Venezuela

Maldonado's Day and the Arepa Table

Venezuela has never hosted a Grand Prix, but Pastor Maldonado gave it a famous win in 2012, and its kitchen revolves around corn, plantains and generous hospitality.

Venezuela has never staged a World Championship race, so its Formula 1 story belongs to a small group of drivers. The first in our records is Ettore Chimeri, who started one race in 1960, and Johnny Cecotto followed with 18 starts in 1983 and 1984.

The country's great day came in 2012, when Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish Grand Prix. It remains the only Venezuelan victory in our records, the high point of a career of 95 starts between 2011 and 2015.

Venezuelan cooking blends indigenous, West African and European traditions, with Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German and French settlers each leaving a mark, and it shifts noticeably from region to region. The staples are meat and beans, yams and plantains, rice and corn, and ají dulce peppers and papelón turn up in a great many recipes. White cheeses, usually named for the region they come from, are everywhere. Italian families brought pasta, and German settlers brought kuchen and the Berliners known locally as bombas.

Meals follow a pattern of a large breakfast, a large lunch around midday and a light supper, and no visitor to a Venezuelan home leaves without being offered something to eat and drink, so it is wise to arrive hungry. The arepa, a thick corn disk grilled or fried and stuffed with almost anything, is the country's most distinctive food and is eaten all day long. For a race weekend, a plate of pabellón criollo and a basket of tequeños make a fine Venezuelan spread.

A taste of Venezuela

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