World Flavors Cookbook

Hallaca

Name: Hallaca
Cook time: 120 min
Cuisine: Venezuela
Ingredients: Corn dough tinted with achiote; Beef, pork, and chicken stew; Raisins, olives, capers, almonds; Onion, bell pepper rings; Plantain leaves; Kitchen string

The soul of Venezuelan Christmas—a complex corn dough parcel filled with a multi-meat stew, wrapped in plantain leaves.

Cuisine: Venezuela

Ingredients

Corn dough tinted with achiote
Beef, pork, and chicken stew
Raisins, olives, capers, almonds
Onion, bell pepper rings
Plantain leaves
Kitchen string

Instructions

1. Prepare a rich stew of the three meats with wine and spices. 2. Spread a thin layer of dough on a cleaned plantain leaf. 3. Add a portion of stew and garnish with raisins, olives, almonds, and pepper rings. 4. Fold the leaf into a rectangular parcel and tie securely with string. 5. Boil the hallacas in water for 2 hours. 6. Best eaten the next day after the flavors have melded.