Fresh Corn Is The Key

Edgar Cova pressed several golden patties onto the griddle and pointed with his spatula to the center of one, slightly melted and sizzling.

“That’s the cheese. This,” he said, waving his spatula around the rest of the patty, ​“all this is the fresh corn.”

Cova grilled up the patties, called arepas, on Monday at the Ay! Arepas lunch cart on the corner of Congress Avenue and Cedar Street near Yale Medical School.

The most popular item on the menu is arepas with a grilled white fish — tilapia marinated in adobo, or a reddish mixture of paprika, oregano, salt, garlic and vinegar. The arepa, a dish originally from Venezuela, is a mixture of sweet corn cake and mozzarella cheese.

And fish haters, don’t despair — Ay! Arepas offers grilled chicken, grilled pork loin, grilled shrimp and vegetables as arepa options, too.

Cova pressed the patty made of ground sweet corn dough and mozzarella cheese onto the griddle, browning it slightly and melting the cheese. He pulled out a filet of tilapia, which had been marinating in the adobo sauce, and threw it on the griddle. Once the white fish firmed up and finished cooking, Cova plated it atop the grilled arepa, the adobo juices pooling in the styrofoam take-out container.

He scooped up a generous amount of yellow rice and plated it next to the tilapia arepas. Alda Tufro, a regular customer, usually gets hers with salad and fresh fruit instead.

She said a meal from one of the lunch trucks near Yale-New Haven Hospital could induce an afternoon food coma, but that just isn’t the case with the Ay! Arepas cart.

“I get lunch here like every day,” said Tufro, who teaches at the Yale School of Medicine. ​“Some of the other places taste good, but I feel like taking a nap after. This just tastes good and it’s healthy and light.”

Both options come with caramelized, sweet, fried plantains — Cova’s favorite.

“I love these little guys,” he said.

Cova ladled the dish with a couple vegetarian sauces, including a yellow corn vegetable sauce and a tomato red sauce. The cheesy arepa at the bottom acts like a sponge, soaking up all the extra juices and flavor.

Lastly, Cova topped the whole thing with a scoop of guacamole and pico de gallo, or a fresh salsa made from raw chopped tomato, white onion and and chilis. Some customers also add hot sauce and sour cream.

The ingredients are fresh and inexpensive, Cova said. An arepa costs anywhere from $5 to $6.50, depending on the meat or vegetables, and the helping is sizable.

Cova has worked with his friend Jorge Navas at the Ay! Arepas food truck for the last two years. Ay! Arepas is open near Yale Medical School five days a week from 11 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. Another Ay! Arepas cart, at York and Elm streets, is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The mastermind behind the arepas is Cova and Navas’ boss, Chef Ernesto Garcia. Chef Garcia used to own the now closed Ay! Salsa on High Street. The arepa was one of Ay! Salsa’s signature dishes, too.

Cova had some good news for New Haven’s ardent arepa admirers — Chef Garcia’s arepas are returning to the sit-down restaurant setting soon. Cova said Chef Garcia will open a new Latin-American restaurant on High Street sometime this March, called Rubamba.