Venezuelan Cachapa Tower

Name: Venezuelan Cachapa Tower
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 fresh corn (kernels removed from the cob); 2 tablespoons coconut butter; 0.5 cup coconut oil (divided - some for batter, some for cooking); 1 teaspoon salt; 0.5 cup fresh mozzarella cheese (optional); 250 ml a can of coconut cream (full-fat, or milk, freshly made if available); 8.8 ounces potato (about 250 grams, sliced for grilling); 0.5 cup dulse algae (Rhodymenia palmata, for frying); 0.25 cup pesto (for serving on top)

By Dada Shivananda·Intermediate

Venezuelan Cachapa was born in Madeira. After several years of conducting lectures and yoga courses on the island of Madeira, many students were following our practices. Eventually, we started scheduling meditation and yoga retreats quarterly to strengthen their practice and way of life. In one of those many retreats, a couple of Venezuelans were attending for the first time. As always, after many retreats, we became friends and kept in touch.

When I asked them about their favorite Venezuelan staple food, she said Cachapa. She described how it's prepared with fresh corn blended with butter, salt, and mozzarella cheese, then baked for 30 minutes. "Is that all?" I asked. "I will show you how to do it," she replied. A couple of days later, we were having lunch after our weekly collective meditation, and she made Cachapa—I loved it instantly. The next time I made it was in Caracas, Venezuela, when I visited in 2005.

Corn is a staple in many countries, especially in South America. It is typically added to plenty of dishes or eaten straight from the cob after cooking. It can also be ground to make corn flour, also known as maize flour, or made into corn batter for cakes. It is a rich source of carbohydrates and fiber but also has a decent amount of protein.

A little fun always goes a long way when making recipes, so in this version, it's Cachapa Tower (because pancake towers have been done over and over again!). To make the Cachapa, you blend the raw corn, add some coconut oil, salt, coconut cream, and bake it. For our non-vegan friends who love cheese, you can even use butter and mozzarella cheese to add a creamy, cheesy element to it. For this recipe, there are grilled slices of sweet potato to build the Cachapa tower.

The Cachapa on its own already tastes spectacular with the natural sweetness coming from the corn. What makes this tower special is that it goes really well with generous amounts of pesto. In addition, you can try stacking vegetables in it—in our case, we added some sliced grilled potatoes in between to add a crispy, delicious element to the dish. Perfect with a few fried dulse algae, this dish is sure to please the palate.