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La Ruta de la Arepa 2023 has covered all the gastronomic points of Madrid, as it has been present in more than 40 establishments of all styles: gourmet, street, Latin restaurants, and other Spanish restaurants that are integrating the arepa in their fusion menus. In this edition, La Ruta has the support of great allies, such as the Community of Madrid, the association Hostelería Madrid, and the food giant, Goya.
The simplicity and versatility of the arepa is part of the gastronomic culture of Madrid, so La Ruta de la Arepa has requested its recognition as part of the Gastronomic Heritage of the Community of Madrid. To support this initiative you can sign the online form http://arepa.global that will remain active during the coming months.
Thus, Madrid once again becomes the "Capital of the Arepa", consolidating the arepa as heir and representative of culinary fusion, and La Ruta as a platform for entrepreneurship, integration and creativity.
La Ruta de la Arepa is preparing to continue with activities during the coming months, starting with "Summer Afternoons in La Latina" from June 15 and the collection of signatures for the arepa on the web http://arepa.global and in establishments participating in La Ruta.
In September, on the occasion of the celebration of Arepa Month and World Arepa Day, more cultural and gastronomic activities will be promoted, including the expansion to other cities and the contest for the best arepa in Madrid, among others.
Madrid, June 2023 - The arepa is one of the great discoveries of world gastronomy, and proof of this is that the capital has been worshipping this popular recipe for several years with La Ruta de la Arepa, a gastrocultural platform that now requests to be taken into account to be part of the Gastronomic Heritage of the Community of Madrid. This gastronomic tour of 2023 reached all points of the capital, where it has been present in more than 40 restaurants, with gourmet, street, Latin and other Spanish restaurants that included the arepa in their fusion menus.
The simplicity and versatility of the arepa have led it to become a gastronomic "flag" and a driving force for entrepreneurship, beyond borders and nationalities. A circular, semi-flattened corn-based dough cake is a gluten-free food, eaten as a main dish or side dish, alone or stuffed, at breakfast, lunch or dinner, and amalgamates the best of Latin American and international gastronomy.
"Our proposal for the recognition of the Arepa as Gastronomic Heritage of Madrid is everything that the arepa represents today: fusion of culture, gastronomic enrichment and entrepreneurship at all levels," explains Ernesto Lotitto, creator of La Ruta de la Arepa.
For his part, D. Luis Fernando Martín Izquierdo, director of Tourism of the Community of Madrid, points out that "Madrid has more than 30 thousand restaurants, which places it among the top five gastronomic capitals in Europe", and adds that "Madrid is a city to eat and to enjoy, it is not only a city to see but to stop and taste, to have a drink, to know all the gastronomy that is in this city, not only the Madrilenian, one of the fundamental points is that meeting point is the growth of Latin cuisine".
Javier Mora (Chef, Only You Atocha), Mr. Luis Martín (Director of Tourism, Community of Madrid), Remo Di Bartolo (Sales Director, Goya), Ernesto Lotitto (Creator, La Ruta de la Arepa) and Carlos Baute (Godfather, La Ruta de la Arepa).
Today, the arepa reaches every corner of the planet, and shows us its most avant-garde and daring versions, coexisting with recipes full of tradition, and in the gastronomic tour of the Arepa Route 2023 the restaurants, more and more creative, include ingredients of all kinds and origins.
We met original proposals such as that of Argentinean Julián Nenadovit, from Casa Jaguar, who came up with a "Madrilenian" arepa, dyed in ink black and filled with squid. There is also the one created by Cordoban chef Manu Urbano, from La Malaje, who uses the famous Andalusian meat mechá, mojo picón and flambéed payoyo cheese. Or the one created by chef Javier Mora, from Sép7ima, in the Only You Atocha hotel, who goes around the world in an arepa, using ingredients such as fried pig's ear, salsa brava with kimchi, and shrimp tartar with Japanese dressing, "covering four countries and thousands of kilometers", as the chef himself assures. And there is no ingredient that can resist this "new bread" based on corn flour that Madrid has already adopted as its own.
Arepa Madrileña from Casa Jaguar
"What is happening today in Madrid with La Arepa is impressive, many restaurants have incorporated it as a main dish or side dish, it went from being an almost unknown product to being known by most Spaniards and other nationalities," says Carlos Baute, ambassador and godfather of La Ruta de la Arepa 2023.
See report on arepas fusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLmoVeyuIzA
La Ruta continues, La Ruta continues
La Ruta de la Arepa is preparing to continue in September, when World Arepa Day will be celebrated, when more cultural and gastronomic activities will be promoted, including a competition for the best arepa in Madrid. In the meantime, and to make the wait less hard, La Ruta de la Arepa is still active on the web (http://arepa.global), social networks (@rutadelaarepa) and through many activities to celebrate Latin flavors.
Among the events to be held are the Summer Afternoons in La Latina, which will be held every Thursday at the local Domi (Costanilla de San Andrés, 10. Plaza de La Paja), a meeting that opens this June 15. For its part, the emblematic local La Arepera located on the corner of Gran Vía and Plaza de España, will host a collection of signatures during the weekend of June 17 and 18, and thus continue to promote the recognition of the arepa as part of the Gastronomic Heritage of Madrid. There will also be activities for children and other surprises. The website http://arepa.global will be constantly updated with new activations and events.
Goya: history, entrepreneurship and fusion
"Goya was founded in the USA in 1936 by a couple of Spanish immigrants", says Ernesto Lotitto, creator of La Ruta de la Arepa: "and its history is closely linked to the importance of family, gastronomy and entrepreneurship as a form of integration. We share values and visions, and for us it is a source of pride to establish this collaboration so closely aligned with our project of expansion and integration, not only of the arepa, but of the entire gastro-cultural trend that is associated with it".
"We are proud to be part of the gastronomic fusion that La Ruta de la Arepa achieves", says Mar López, Marketing Director of Goya Europe, who highlights "the richness: the ability to unite super intense and authentic flavors -of origin- that mixed with our traditional flavors transport you to places you have never been to before". He also assures that La Ruta is a great opportunity "to closely support the restaurant sector".
Bob Unanue, CEO of Goya, explains: "Spanish cuisine is at the forefront of world cuisine, with a higher level of quality and prestige than other countries. A Route that walks along that new Spanish cuisine is a magnificent experience for Latin American cuisine" and extends congratulations to La Ruta de la Arepa for having known how to integrate itself into that gastronomic vanguard since 2017.
Goya is the great leader in Latin food worldwide. With an annual turnover exceeding one billion dollars and more than 25 warehouses distributed around the world, Goya has 4,000 direct points of sale throughout Spain, and its catalog of more than 300 products can be found in more than 2,000 department stores, including supermarkets and hypermarkets. In addition, Goya Europe ranks as the largest Latin American food distributor in the old continent.
Watch video: La Ruta 2023 https://youtu.be/yg9jkH07Xqc
Fusion as an expansive proposal
A gastronomic festival open to the city, in which restaurants in the capital served their own urban and international version of this universal dish. A festival in which local culture is perfectly integrated with international proposals, in the purest Madrid style.