Venezuela
Photo: Wilfredor, CC BY-SA 4.0, croppedHallaca
/aˈʝaka/ah-YAH-kah
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- Taste
- Savory
- Made with
- CornPorkChickenBeef
History
Hallacas are Venezuela's Christmas dish: a dough of corn flour coloured with annatto, spread on a plantain leaf, filled with a stew of beef, pork and chicken, with raisins, olives, capers and peppers on top, then folded, tied with string and boiled. The dish combines Indigenous corn-and-leaf cooking with ingredients brought by the Spanish. A family makes dozens or hundreds at once in December, every member taking part in the work, and they are exchanged between neighbours, who then compare whose family recipe is best. Each region of Venezuela has its own version, and families abroad keep the custom.
Sources
