La Hallaca, is a typical Venezuelan dish traditionally served on Christmas and New Year's Eve. It’s made of cornmeal and stuffed with all sorts of meats (beef, pork, and chicken), raisins, capers and olives, wrapped in a banana leaf. This is not just a typical meal Venezuelans prepare during Christmas time, this is a tradition where all in the family get together to chopped, clean, cook, stuff and rap the Hallaca .
People chat about different families in different states in Venezuela prepare them with a specific ingredient that would make them typical of the area. Or when do they start making them, you know, some families will make them on Christmas’ Eve and others way before.
But not only we do the Hallacas, We also prepare Pan de Jamon (bread stuffed with ham) and Pernil (pork)! The Pan de Jamon may be one of my favorite meals during Christmas, this bread it’s filled with ham, raisins and green olives (not a fan ;p); that gives this bread its distinctive blend of savory and sweet flavors. This is not a bread you can buy at any store, this is a bread that it could be typical of Venezuelans.
The pernil, is the food that takes most of effort and skills, normally takes between 4 to 6 hours to prepare/cook and not many have the patience to cook such meal. This is a recipe that is share during generations, some, even use the same books their grandma/mom used to use.
But above all, this is a time to spend with our love ones to remember and celebrate the greatest gift of all, Christ! Have a Merry Christmas and a great 2019.
Thanks for looking,
The ArteRaw Team