No Masa for Cachapas

With eager enthusiasm I began reading your cachapa article (“The Eternal Cachapa,” Sept. 29). I was quickly disappointed!

I am a native Venezuelan living in this country for the past 31 years. I go to Caracas often and have never seen or tasted (for that matter) a cachapa made with “instant corn masa mix.” I remember the first time I made cachapas in this country. I was recently married and did not know that the fresh corn here was so “watery.” Needless to say, it was really messy. However, I learned the hard way and only way to make them and get the proper consistency, without the instant masa.

Another point. Getting sour cream in Venezuela is almost like getting gold. If gotten, it is really sour. How about telling your readers to use bufarella or fresh mozzarella, which is very similar to queso de mano or queso ranchero or grated cotija. That would be more in tune with a true cachapa.

--MARY C. WEINER

From the Internet

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Thanks for the article about cachapas and the criollo food of Venezuela. We lived in Caracas from ’94 to ’95 and enjoyed it a lot. We ate in places from luxurious to really “divey” on vacation trips to the countryside--places with no running water, that cooked on a wire rack supported by two rocks over a wood fire. Never had any problems, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

TOM KOSAKOWSKI

Pasadena