Mozzarepa (mozzarella + arepa)

“Mozzarepa” (or “MozzArepa”) is a commercial product that was trademarked in 1996 and combines “mozzarella” (cheese) sandwiched inside an “arepa” (corn-based bread). The MozzArepa stands can be seen at many New York City area street fairs. 
 
 
Everything2
Mozzarepa
Mon Sep 22 2003 at 2:30:47
The Mozzarepa is a new twist on the classic Columbian dish called the arepa. Just like the arepa you have two corn pancakes with cheese in the middle. However it has a few alterations on the old recipe. Instead of being fried like an arepa, the Mozzarepa is grilled. The other major difference is that the Mozzarepa has mozzarella cheese betweens the two corn pancakes while the original does not necessarily have cheese or has other variations of cheese.
 
The Mozzarepa is being marketed mainly at fairs and events next to all the gyro, corndog, souvlaki, cheese steak, fried dough, and churros stands.
 
Wikipedia: Mozzarella
Mozzarella is a generic term for the several kinds of, originally, Italian fresh cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting (hence the name; the Italian verb mozzare actually means “to cut”): mozzarella di latte di bufala made from unpasteurized water buffalo’s milk; mozzarella di bufala campana made only from Campania’s buffalo milk; mozzarella fior di latte made from fresh pasteurized or unpasteurized cow’s milk; and mozzarella made from mixtures, sometimes smoked, and those stored in preservatives.   
 
Mozzarepas.com
Satisfy your curiosity…
MOZZAREPAS Express
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Nestled in Sweet Tender Cornbread
Grilled to Perfection!
 
flickr
Mmmm… Mozzarepa!
My favorite festival food is the Mozzarepa. It’s like a grilled cheese made with sweet cornbread and mozzarella. Mmmmmmm.
     
Gothamist
July 27, 2004
Street Food
(...)
Mozzarepa: a variation on the “arepa”, a cornmeal patty of Colombian origin, this handy sandwich of cornmeal cakes and mozzarella cheese is a hint of sweet and a hint of salt permeated with copious amounts of fat. $3.50.     
     
Amardeep Singh
Monday, May 16, 2005
Visiting the new MoMA; Eating MozzArepas
(...)
We had a kind of messy, multicultural lunch at the annual Ninth Avenue Food Festival. In addition to (Polish) Pierogies and Indonesian veggie fritters, we enjoyed some Venezuelan Arepas. In New York, the Arepas you get come stuffed, predictably, with Mozzarella—the “Mozzarepa.”
 
Google Books
New York University
Off the Record
by Meredith Turley
Pittsburgh, PA: College Prowler, Inc.
2005
Pg. 45:
Every September the Italian Feast of San Gennaro is held downtown in Little Italy for 10 days. The feast includes games, music, drinking and most notably, food! Popular staples of San Gennaro include sausage and peppers, zeppoles (fried balls of dough covered in powdered sugar), mozzarepa (mozzarella wrapped in corn cakes) and fried Oreos.
 
Slashfood
Arepa!
Posted Jun 22nd 2006 8:01PM by Erich Kuersten
(...)
This last Sunday, I broke my routine.  A sign at my corn dog spot advertised a corn bread and mozzarela delight called a “mozzarepa.” It looked like two stacked pancakes with melted cheese goodness in between.  For only $2.50, I sealed the deal: fried sweet corn joy and dripping dairy, all on one plate with a little plastic fork.  That night, I skipped the Cyclone for the Top Spin and had the time of my life.
 
The next day, I couldn’t get the mozzarepa off my mind.  What should have been a one night stand turned into an obsession; before I knew it, I was at the corner store, buying mozzarella and corn bread mix. I cooked golden corn flapjacks and stacked them generously with cheese.  It was like dinner with the panting loser when your real love
won’t return your calls.
 
Neither the Food Network site nor Wikipedia gave me results for “mozzarepa,” so I turned to Google.  The results generally disappointed, though Chris Kula (http://www.chriskula.com/) offered the priceless description: “fried cornbread that is ‘raped’ by mozzarella.”  The Gothamist had an excellent feature on NYC street food that shed actual light on the mozzarepa, describing it as a variation on the arepa. 
 
Hoboken Hero
Sunday, July 22, 2007
st. ann’s italian festival - the highlights
(...)
Ok - the showstopper of St. Ann’s HAS to be the Mozzarepa. It looks like this:
[Photo—ed.]
And tastes like heaven. Large golden circles of pure joy and happiness. Two sweet cornbread cakes, with a layer of gooey melty mozzarella cheese in the middle. I cannot describe the sensation. 
 
Gothamist
September 27, 2007
Eat this Weekend: The Atlantic Antic Festival
On tap for this year’s 33rd Annual Atlantic Antic festival, taking this Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM (rain or shine, buddy) is the usual bonanza of pony rides, live music, and balloon animals. This year’s Antic has an added emphasis on food, which should hopefully make it a remedy to all the street fair food fatigue that’s been going around recently.
 
For starters, decent street food will be offered in overwhelming abundance- there are no less than 9 spots to get roasted corn on the cob within the festival’s Hicks Street to 4th Avenue borders. Everything from jerk chicken to the cornbread-mozzarella stick hybrid (the quasi-mystical “mozzarepa”) will be available somewhere.
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark MOZZAREPAS
Goods and Services IC 043. US 100 101. G & S: RESTAURANT SERVICES; CATERING SERVICES; PROVIDING FOOD AND DRINKS AT FAIRS, EXHIBITIONS, AND SPECIAL EVENTS. FIRST USE: 19960309. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960309
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78816974
Filing Date February 16, 2006
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) LEONS FOOD CORPORATION INC. CORPORATION NEW JERSEY 843 Lake Avenue Clark NEW JERSEY 07066
Attorney of Record Tristram R. Fall, III, Esquire,
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark MOZZAREPAS
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 030. US 046. G & S: Food products, including sandwiches, arepas, corn cakes containing cheese, frozen or refrigerated meals
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78634050
Filing Date May 20, 2005
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Leons Food Corporation Inc. CORPORATION NEW JERSEY 843 Lake Avenue Clark NEW JERSEY 07066
Attorney of Record Gerard P. Norton
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date June 23, 2006