Campfire Cast-Iron Venezuelan Perico Scrambled Eggs with Arepas

Make the arepa dough first: in a bowl, stir 1 teaspoon salt into the warm water, then gradually add the masarepa, mixing with your hands until a soft, smooth dough forms. Rest 5 minutes, then shape into 8 flat discs about 1/2 inch thick.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs
• 3 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups precooked white corn flour (masarepa)
• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• Fresh cilantro, chopped, for serving
• Crumbled queso fresco, for serving

Instructions

1. Make the arepa dough first: in a bowl, stir 1 teaspoon salt into the warm water, then gradually add the masarepa, mixing with your hands until a soft, smooth dough forms. Rest 5 minutes, then shape into 8 flat discs about 1/2 inch thick.
2. Set a cast-iron griddle over the campfire grate and let it heat until a drop of water dances. Lightly oil the surface and cook the arepas 5-6 minutes per side until a golden crust forms and they sound hollow when tapped. Move to the cooler edge to keep warm.
3. In a heavy cast-iron skillet over the fire, warm the oil and add the onion and green pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened and lightly charred at the edges, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the diced tomatoes and cumin and cook until the tomatoes break down into a loose sauce, 4-5 minutes, seasoning with salt.
5. Beat the eggs in a bowl and pour them into the skillet. Fold gently and continuously with a wooden spoon, letting the eggs form soft, tender curds in the tomato mixture.
6. Just before the eggs finish, stir in the scallions and pull the skillet off the direct heat so they stay creamy rather than dry.
7. Split the warm arepas and pile in the perico, then top with cilantro and crumbled queso fresco.
8. Perico is Venezuela's beloved breakfast scramble, named for its bright confetti of tomato, pepper and onion that recalls a parakeet's plumage. Cooked over a campfire and tucked into fresh-griddled arepas, it turns a simple carton of eggs into a warm, sunny morning meal that fuels a long day outdoors, exactly the kind of unfussy island-adjacent cooking that makes summer camping feel like a vacation.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 430 kcal
• Protein: 19g
• Fat: 20g
• Carbohydrates: 44g
• Fiber: 5g
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 720mg