In a collaboration full of flavor and passion, the Spanish club and the FCCLA club (cooking club) joined to make a recipe and cook, leaving a mark on all the participants. On November 20, 2024, students from both clubs joined together after school in room A06 to prepare one of the most emblematic recipes of Venezuelan gastronomy: the arepa.
The chosen arepa was the Reina Pepiada, a delicious mixture of chicken, mayonnaise and avocado, known for having a flavor that attracts you with its combination of flavors.
Sophomore and FCCLA club member Maddy Grenon said, “I think that the collaboration was a very fun experience that taught me a lot of things about the food we made, the arepa. I also met new people and made new friends during the collaboration. I liked how it had many steps and ingredients in it that made the food delicious. Another recipe I would love to make is quesadilla because they are fantastic,and you can have a lot of different foods inside them. I think it is a wonderful experience for everyone, and it helps people get together and meet new people.”
The name of the arepa was given to it by the owner of a restaurant, “Los hermanos Alvarez.”, located on Grand Avenue, Caracas, Venezuela. They presented a toasted arepa filled with avocado and chicken and called it Reina Pepiada in honor of the first Miss World from Venezuela, Susana Duji. While the Pepiada part is due to the fact that curvy women of that time were called “Pepiadas”.
The FCCLA club is a club that focuses on developing leadership skills and is run by consumer science skills teacher Susan Murphy. The club organizes and performs community service events.
The PawPrint met with Susan Murphy, who said, “Ms. Rivadeneira and I were discussing the idea back in September. We thought it would be fun to create a cultural food that not all of us knew how to make and learn a new recipe and a new method. Another recipe I would like to make would be a dessert like flan. The FCCLA club would also like to collaborate with the art club [in the future].”
The Spanish club is a club where all members meet to do creative activities and for students to learn more about Hispanic American culture.
The students were divided into three groups of four to divide up the ingredients. In some of the groups only English was spoken, while in others some students whose first language is English practiced their Spanish with the members of the Spanish club.
The sophomore and member of the Spanish club Mekai Howard shared his opinion and said, “I thought it was really fun. I enjoyed learning about Latino Culture and learning how to cook a traditional dish. It gave me an opportunity to practice my Spanish skills. I would love to learn how to make empanadas, I like eating them and cooking with my friends.”
Spanish-speaking students represent eighteen percent of the student population in the cycles from 2023 to 2024. This reflects a constant growth in recent years, when in 2018 to 2019 Spanish-speaking students represented thirteen percent of the student population.
Senior and FCCLA club member Nikky Zhou spoke to PawPrint and said, “I think the collaboration was super fun, being able to learn more about a different culture, it was unique to try making a completely new recipe that I hadn’t tried before and get help from the experts.” She continued and said that, “The most surprising thing about the Venezuelan chicken arepas we made was definitely the filling, it never crossed my mind to mix chicken and avocado, but it worked so well and they didn’t overpower each other. The dough was also very airy yet crunchy, which was surprising considering how soft the mixture was before cooking. Zhou came to the conclusion that she “loves it when different clubs collaborate because we can all share some knowledge and understand more about both clubs. Most clubs have a connection point which could a great collaboration moment, even if there are no similarities, bringing two clubs together to make something interesting is always fun.¨
