Arepas from Venezuela

Made with white cornmeal, water, and salt that you shape into disks and fry. You'd have to see it done, and Pat would be happy to make it for anyone. Serve them stuffed with anything you like or on the side of every meal with black beans and rice. When you stuff them, you usually cut them in half, and scoop out some of the middles and then fill with any combination of meat, cheese, egg, tomato, etc.

“Feki, why are you so…  Why do you have such faith in me?
“Why shouldn’t I? You traveled so far to teach us.  What you say must be true.”
“Yeah, but what if I lied to you?”
“You wouldn’t lie, Kolipoki.”
“But what if I did?”
“Then you come a long way just to tell a lie.” After a pause… “When I was a boy, my father was a drinking man. He used to beat my mother. I wasn’t strong enough to keep him off her. The missionaries- they came in, they showed him the truth. Only the truth was strong enough.  One day, I went to thank them for their sacrifice, and they just shook their heads and told me of other missionaries who sacrifice much more. They were sick to death with the fever. As they left their families behind… and crossed the sea to preach God’s word, they stood up in their wagons, and they shouted, ‘Hurrah for Israel!’ Every time I see my father after that, every time he wasn’t drinking, I think the same thing- Hurrah for Israel. I think the same thing every time I hear you teach. Hurrah for Israel!”