Hello dear friends of Hive

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and Saturday is Christmas Day.

I've been cooking non-stop since Monday morning.

Can you guess one of the things I've been making?

If you said Hallacas you nailed it!.

Hallacas are a traditional Christmas dish native to my country Venezuela. They are basically corn dough filled with meat stew and wrapped in smoked banana leaves.

The history of how Hallacas came to be may vary depending on who tells it, but all stories agree that they are from Colonial times where Venezuelan slaves used their master's leftovers to make this dish. Nowadays we know that there are many ways of making hallacas because every family has their own story and their own way of making them.
Today I'll show you mine.

The Stew.

The stew has Beef and Pork Loin. Some put Chicken directly in the stew, others put it as garnish. I use it in the stew and also add pork fat for flavor. The preparation has to be thick for it to keep inside the wrapping, and for that, most use cornmeal as a thickener. This is enhanced with lots of vegetables and the distinctive flavor of Onoto Oil, or Achiote Oil, which also gives a beautiful deep orange color.
Note that the stew has to be cold before the final assembly, so I make it one day in advance.

Making the Hallacas

After doing the stew the hard work finally comes, because there are many steps to follow, but since is something that's usually done as a family, everyone gets a task. From washing the smoked banana leaves to tying the wrappers, everyone fulfills an important role in this whole thing, so, here are the 4 most important steps:

1.- Cutting and washing the leaves: we have to cut big ones or Shirts, where we put the whole preparation, and small ones or Girdle, to hold it all together. They have to be very clean because believe me, you don't want it to taste like dirt. This job is for the little ones and we all hate it.
2.- Making the Stew: that job is for the moms and grandmas of the family. Later I'll share the procedure. I'm not a mom let alone a grandma but I love to cook and I do it well so I took over that task several years ago.
3.- Layering the dough: the thing layer of corn dough is one of the most difficult parts of this dish. The dough can't be too thin nor too thick and for that, the consistency has to be just right and it can take years of experience, that's why mom is the one who makes it in my home.
4.- Tying them up: It's a challenge, they have to be well tied otherwise they can get unraveled in the water while cooking, so, you have to be a knot master.

These 4 steps are the most important to my view, now, let's get to the ingredients, shall we?

Ingredients for 50 Hallacas.

Stew
1 and a half kilo of Beef
2 Chicken Breast
1 kilo of Pork Loin
200grm Pork Fat
3 medium Onions.
2 medium Leeks.
8 springs of Green Onions.
15 small Sweet Chilies
1 and a half head of Garlic
Chopped Coriander to taste
1 liter of Vegetable Oil
100grm of Onoto/Achiote seeds
4/6 liters of meat/pork/chicken stock.
3/4 of a cup of Red Cooking Wine
Cumin to Taste
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 cup of cornmeal mixed in 2 cups of water.

For the Assembly
300grm Olives
300grm Cappers
300grm Raisins
300grm Pickled Veggies
2 medium Onions
2 medium Red Bell Peppers

For the Dough
2 kilos of Cornmeal
4/6 liters of meat/pork/chicken stock.
Salt to taste

For Wrapping
5 kilos of Smoked Banana Leaves
2 rolls of candlewick (pabilo)

Preparation of the Stew.

First cook the Beef, Pork, and Chicken separately with some aromatics, I used garlic, sweet chili, onion, leek leaves, coriander leaves, and black peppercorns. No salt.
When cold, cut up all in small squares, reserve. Mix all 3 broths and reserve for later, half for the stew, half for the dough.

In a pot, pour 3/4 of a liter of Vegetable oil and the Onoto Seeds, heat that up until the oil turns orange. Do not let that burn!

Take a big pot and pour 100mls of Onoto Oil and heat that up, then add the minced garlic, then the finely minced onion, later the leeks and green onions also very minced and finally the sweet chilies. All that has to be chopped finely. Let that cook halfway then, add the meats and pork fat, all together and give that a stir. Season that just with the cumin, I used 1 not-so full tablespoon, and black pepper, the salt is at the very end. Add the Red Cooking Wine and stir, to finally pour the broth/stock.

Prepare on the side the cornmeal thickener, just the cornmeal, and water; it has to be consistent but a little loose. After the stew boils the first time, add, without stopping stirring, the cornmeal thickener, remember, don't stop stirring otherwise you'll get lumps in your stew. Add salt to taste and let that cook for about 30 to 45 minutes. In the end, add finely chopped coriander. Let that cool completely.

Preparation for the Dough and the Final Assembly.

Heat up the remaining broth/stock until is warm, and some water just in case. In a big big bowl, add the stock, salt, 4 teaspoons, and 100mls of Onoto Oil. The quantity of the oil will depend on how deep you want the color of your dough. It doesn't have to be orange but try for a deep yellow at least.

Add slowly and in batches, the cornmeal, don't do it all at once otherwise it will be lumpy, keep doing that, keep adding cornmeal until the dough is consistent enough but not dry, it should not hold a particular shape at first. Let that rest for 15 minutes, if after that time still doesn't hold shape add a little more cornmeal, if it does hold it you're good to go.

Wash the bell peppers and onions and cut them like so: **The peppers julienne, the onions in thin rings. **

Place the capers, olives, raisins, peppers, onions, and pickles, along with the stew, the dough, the rest of onoto oil, and the leaves all on a big table. All have to be close together for it is a speedy process.

Take a big leaf and place it before you with the strings laid horizontally. First, brush it with onoto oil (use your hand). Then take a bit of the dough and spread it in a round shape on the surface of the leaf.
Put in the center a big tablespoon of the stew and garnish it with an olive, 2 capers, raisins to taste as well as the pickled veggies, a piece of bell pepper, and a ring of onion.

Now, take the leaf by the top and bottom end and place them together, then, start to roll that down to the center as if you are wrapping a gift. Take the right and left ends and fold them downwards and center. Take a small girdle leaf and secure by folding it again, then tie that up with the candlewick.

The cooking process.

In a big pot with enough boiling water and salt, cook them for 30 minutes then turn them over and cook them for 30 minutes more. It is best if they are cooked on an open fire, but on a stove, they are just fine.

Serve hot but do let them rest at least 5 minutes before serving.

¡That's it folks!

As you can see, it's a hard labor, but one out of love, with a tasty meal that makes us cherish this season even more than years before.

✨✨ Merry Christmas Everyone ✨✨

The Images are my property unless otherwise is statated. They were taken with a Redmi 6 and a Techno Spark 6Go, and edited both in Canva and Gif Creator App.