"I can't even eat anymore, I can't forget you". This is how one of the most famous songs starts Rawayana , the Caracas gang that regularly takes over the piped music Teresa, one of the Venezuelan gastronomic temples most iconic in Madrid.
And we can't think of a better simile than that stanza of 'Sin ti' to describe arepas and cachapas that land on the tables of Teresa: capital and unforgettable. Proceeding to take that first tasty and slightly crunchy bite is automatically accepting an irremediable culinary addiction.
Terezza's arepas are on another level.
We talked about those sudden cravings for shredded chicken, avocado and mayonnaise ; of that impulse that leads us to the street of Ventura de la Vega -in the Neighborhood of the letters– with the aim of satisfying the desire to have a arepa pavilion (shredded beef, beans, grated white cheese and plantain) between the hands
“The first restaurant opened in february 2017, in number 10 of Calle Orense. Today, we have two stores, the one in Orense and the one in Ventura De la Vega, which We opened in 2019. In addition, we are already working to open another location in another point of Spain that we still cannot reveal”, comments Gianfranco Crea, Marketing Manager of Terezza, to Condé Nast Traveler Spain.
Nice starters.
After the business two brothers: Kevin and Kerid, who emigrated from Venezuela in search of a better future. Both had a great background in the world of hospitality, which is why they decided to embark on an adventure and give life to Terezza, originally called Tepizzare.
“We started under the name of Tepizzare and we did it by selling pizzas and some Venezuelan products. It was striking that what most captivated people and what they asked for the most were the Venezuelan starters and dishes”, points out Gianfranco Crea.
“Faced with this situation, little by little we were incorporating more Venezuelan dishes and removing the pizzas from the menu until finally Tepizzare migrated to be a fully Venezuelan restaurant”, he continues.
Currently, the large arepas, puffed and well stuffed ; the delicious and not so well known cachapas ; starters like the addictive tequeños or tostones; and desserts, like the classic sponge cake three milks; they are the reason why lovers of Venezuelan cuisine visit Terezza.
But wait a minute: Shall we order arepa or cachapa? That is the eternal question. The first, a kind of pita bread made from precooked corn flour , has a mild flavor that combines with all kinds of fillings.
“The trick of a good arepa is patience, knead as long as necessary. The longer you knead, the finer and less clumpy the dough will be. You also have to be careful with the ingredients and not decompensate: too much salt will give it a gritty texture, too much water will make it raw, mushy and bland and too much flour will make it lumpy and cracked” says Gianfranco.
For its part, the cachapa, a huge pancake made from sweet corn , has a unique flavor and an essential ingredient.
"The cachapa always goes combined with telita cheese, a typical Venezuelan cheese from The Plains or Guayana (Bolivar region that borders Brazil). The cheese of our cachapas It is not mozzarella, white or tender (like other restaurants), it is authentic telita cheese that we get from a special supplier. The same happens with the cheese of our tequeños or our arepas”, Gianfranco explains to us.
“Whoever comes to Terezza, he comes for our cachapas. This is the dish that most identifies us. The success of our cachapas lies in our own slogan: 'We innovate tradition'. If you go to Venezuela , you can only eat cachapas with telita cheese, with telita cheese and fried pork or with telita cheese and meat on a stick”, he points.
“However, here you can order your cachapa with pernil, shredded meat, pepiada queen (in fact we were the first in Madrid to sell queen pepiada cachapa), shredded chicken, fried cheese, banana... Anyway, whatever comes to your mind." Dilemma resolved.
Paper jar.
And to accompany the cachapa, it would be a sin not to ask the paper with lemon –tea made from unrefined brown sugar– or passion fruit juice (passion fruit juice) ; two sweet pleasures made daily.
Of course, I warn gourmands: the final touch, a chicha (pasta-based shake, whole cow's milk, condensed milk and a touch of cinnamon) or a tres leches –the great star–, require a gap or, failing that, a second date with Terezza.