Hallacas (Venezuela)

[Guest guest]

this is my friends recipe, and what a recipe, delightfully serene.

wonderful Recipe for 20 hallacas (pronounced AH-JAC-KA).

Requires 2 days of advanced preparation.

 

Story:

The hallaca is the main Venezuelan Christmas dinner dish. It was

created by the slaves during the colony times. They put the left-

overs of their master's Christmas festivities in a bit of cornmeal

dough, wrapped this with banana leaves and cooked to mix the

flavors. As many things in my country, the hallaca has the influence

of three cultures, the white one (European ingredients like raisins,

nuts and olives), the native one (the corn meal colored with onoto

seeds), and the black one (banana leaves used to cook the food). The

original hallaca is made with meat (pork, poultry, beef, lard, crisp

pork rind, etc) and boiled eggs. The hallaca tastes better once it

has cooled. It requires hours of preparation, but it is usually

prepared by the whole family. Its preparation is a celebration by

itself. Music and drinks make up the festive atmosphere. Mothers

nagging children as they steal bits of fillings from the table, and

the guys complaining of being relegated to the leaf cleaning and

last minute shopping are typical during the hallaca making party.

 

Please note: the banana leaves are not intended to be eaten, they

are just for cooking!

 

Ingredients:

 

1 can of mock duck or 1 packet of tofu marinated pieces

500 g of cooked and mashed new potatoes

50 g of almonds.

4 white onions

2 red onions

2 carrots, 6 Brussels sprouts, a handful of green beans (or another

similar combination of vegetables)

1 can of artichokes

1 can of asparagus

1 can of chickpeas

1 garlic head

1 packet of mi-cuit (half dried) tomatoes or 1 tube of tomato paste

4 red bell peppers

2 green bell peppers

100 g of mixed vine fruit

20 prunes

1 jar of green olives

1 jar of mixed pickles in mustard sauce

1 jar of capers

3 leeks

2 packets of spring onions

1 large bunch of herbs (coriander, thyme, parsley, celery)

1 Tsp of black peppercorns

1 tsp of coriander seeds

1 tsp of cumin seeds

1 Tsp of " onoto " (also called " achiote " ) seeds (*)

1 Kg of instant polenta meal

1 roll of kitchen string

1 Kg of banana leaves (**)

250 ml of olive oil

1 vegetable stock cube

1 mushroom stock cube

Marmite, soya sauce and chili sauce to season

20mx30cm roll of strong aluminum foil (unless you are rich enough to

buy triple quantity of banana leaves and wrap the hallacas

exclusively with banana leaves)

(*) available in Latin-American food shops (there are two in The

Elephant and Castle shopping centre, London).

(**) available in Chinese food shops.

Leaves:

With a damp cloth wipe the banana leaves. Heat the banana leaves

with a flame (gas cooker, camping fire, etc). The leaves turn softer

and darker, with a distinctive smoky smell. Cut the hard rim without

shredding the leaves.

Cut in 30 cm segments along the transversal veins.

 

Polenta dough:

In a small pan, warm (at very low heat) 5 Tsp of olive oil with the

onoto seeds for 20 minutes. The oil should turn red. In the meantime

fry in a deep pan the spices (cumin, black pepper, and coriander

seeds) in 2-3 Tsp of olive oil. Cut the white onions in slices and

add to the pan. Add 5 cups of boiling water. Add the stock cubes and

a Tsp of marmite to season. Add the green part of the leeks plus the

white part of 2 leeks in 1-inch chunks. Cut 1 and a half packet of

spring onions and add to the pan. Add all the herbs (keep some

parsley to garnish) and the garlic head cut in halves.

 

Simmer this broth for 15 minutes. Put the content of the pan in a

food processor and liquidise it. Strain it very well keeping the

liquid and discarding the solid waste (may want it to make vegetable

cakes, up to you). Put the broth in a large bowl and add the red oil

(previously strained to remove the onoto seeds). Pour the water

content of the olive and the caper jars in the bowl. Add the polenta

meal, 1 cup at a time, stirring very well. The consistency should be

smooth. Mix the mashed potatoes with the polenta dough.

 

Make a small test for the consistency of the dough. Wrap 1 Tsp of

dough with a small segment of banana leaf. Wrap it in aluminum foil

and boil it in water for 15 minutes. If the cooked dough maintain

the shape of the banana leaf " package " , the dough is OK. If it

crumbles or comes out half dissolved in water, then add more polenta

meal. If it comes out rock hard, then add more water to the dough.

Rectify the salt as well.

 

Fillings:

Grill peppers: Rub olive oil in two red bell peppers and grill them.

Remove the skin and seeds and cut in 1cm wide strips. Put them apart

in a small bowl.

 

Sauce:

Slice two red onions. Chop the rest of the spring onions and a leek.

Stir fry quickly. Liquidise the mi-cuit tomatoes, two red peppers

and two green peppers and add to the stir fry onions and leek. Stir

for a minute. Add soya sauce, chili sauce and ground cumin to

season. Add some cooking wine if you want. Let it simmer for another

minute. Add some wheat or corn flour to thicken. Put the sauce apart

in a bowl.

 

Vegetables: Shred the carrots and Brussels sprouts, mix with the

green beans, chopped. Put them apart in a bowl.

Vine fruit: Soak the vine fruit in cooking wine or replacement (ie

Norfolk punch). Put it apart in a small bowl.

Prunes: Soak in cooking wine or replacement (ie Norfolk punch). Put

in a small bowl.

Chickpeas: Drain and put them apart in a small bowl.

Pickles: Put them apart in a small bowl.

Almonds: Blanch, toast and put them apart in a small bowl.

Mock duck: Drain, chop in 1cm cubes and put them in a small bowl.

Olives: Put them apart in a small bowl.

Capers: Put them apart in a small bowl.

Artichokes: Drain, cut in quarters and put them in a small bowl.

Asparagus: Drain and put it in a plate.

 

Cut a 35 cm long piece of aluminum foil and put it over the table.

Cover with a banana leaf, the transversal veins along the horizontal

axis. Rub oil on front face of the banana leaf. Put a bit more than

half a ladle of dough in the centre of the leaf. Extend with a spoon

to cover a 14cm-diameter circle.

 

Put 1 Tsp of Sauce in the middle. Put 1 1/2Tsp of shredded

vegetables over the sauce. Put 2 olives and 2 capers, one on each

corner of the dough. Keep placing the rest of the fillings as in a

collage: 1 tsp. of vine fruit, 1 prune, 2 tsp. of pickles, 1 Tsp of

chickpeas, 3 cubes of mock duck, 1 asparagus, 2 strips of grill

pepper and some leaves of parsley.

 

Wrap this with the banana leaf (not against the veins). Fold the

foil to seal the ends of the banana leaf packet. Then, fold the foil

to wrap the whole packet. Tie it with kitchen string. Repeat for the

rest of the dough (see diagrams below).

 

Boil the hallacas covered in water for 20-30 minutes. You may have

to do this in batches unless you have a hugh cauldron. Drain the

hallacas and let them cool for 10 hours. Put them in the fridge or

freezer. Heat the hallacas in boiling water, simmering for 10

minutes before eat them. Enjoy your meal!

 

 

make with friends or family as its a real occasion.

please if anyone is brave enough to try this splendid recipe let me

know how you got on!!!!!!!!!!!!

trust me you will have a lot of fun in the process and thats the

real essence of cooking, to have fun and to share!!!!!!!!