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                  <td align=left colspan=4 valign=top height="100"> <font color="#FFFFFF"> 
                    Today arepas are an essential part of the Colombian and Venezuelan 
                    daily diet. But very few people make arepas at home, choosing 
                    to buy them at the store or have them delivered directly to 
                    their homes. </font></td>
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                  <td align=left colspan=4 valign=bottom height="2"><font color="#FFFFFF">Campesina 
                    shelling corn.<br>
                    Tuta, Boyaca -Colombia<br>
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                  <td colspan=4 valign=top>&nbsp; </td>
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                  <td height="455">It was Christopher Columbus who presented to 
                    the Europeans the first golden grains of corn. In his hasty 
                    search for the Indies he found a continent from which he did 
                    not bring silks nor spices, but instead he brought a grain 
                    that together with rice and wheat is basis for the triad of 
                    today's world food consumption. Totally unknown in the Old 
                    World, corn, (scientific name zea mays) had been established 
                    in The Americas for centuries. There is evidence that one 
                    type of wild corn grew in Mexico since 80,000 BC. No one knows 
                    how it evolved to become today's corn, but evidence shows 
                    that Mexican Indians used to cultivate it and consumed it 
                    at least since 4,000 BC. When the Spaniards arrived to the 
                    New World corn was already established as a crop in the whole 
                    American continent. Today in North America corn is mostly 
                    consumed as cereal in the form of corn flakes, popcorn, muffins, 
                    and polenta. Derivatives, such as corn oil and syrups are 
                    widely used. The list of corn uses in Latin America is enormously 
                    rich since corn is the basis for much of the regional cuisine. 
                    It is used to make bread, tortillas, tamales, empanadas, buñuelos 
                    and arepas, as well as to prepare drinks such as atole, champurriada, 
                    guarapo, mazato, champus and chicha. It is also used in soups, 
                    ajiaco, guisos, masamorra and polenta. It is consumed on the 
                    cob, broiled and baked. Arepas can be found in all regions 
                    of Colombia and Venezuela. </td>
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              <p>Colombian Arepas originated in the mountainous region of Antioquia. 
                In the beginning of this century the masa for the arepas was prepared 
                using a "pilón". "Pilar" was an arduous activity, which consisted 
                of hitting the corn inside a hallowed tree trunk or "pilón" to 
                remove its heart and skin. It was then boiled until soft and ground 
                on a large concave stone. After a soft dough was prepared, condiments 
                were added. The dough was shaped by hand forming arepas to look 
                like round cakes and then baked over hot charcoals. The advent 
                of the thrasher or "trillador" liberated our grandmothers from 
                using the "pilón". However, the daily laborious routine of cooking 
                and grinding the corn, forming and baking the arepas continued.<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> 
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