Hallaca

Ingredients

• Masarepa corn flour1 kg
• Beef — diced600 g
• Pork — diced500 g
• Chicken500 g
• Onions4
• Bell peppers3
• Annatto seeds3 tbsp
• Olives150 g
• Raisins120 g
• Capers3 tbsp
• Banana leaves20
• Sweet wine150 ml
• Lard250 g
• Meat stock1 l
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Warm the annatto seeds in the lard for five minutes and strain it; the coloured fat goes into both dough and guiso.

   8 min

2. 2

   Fry the onion and pepper in the annatto fat, add all three meats and brown them.

   25 min

3. 3

   Add the wine and stock and stew an hour, until the meat is tender and the sauce thick.

   65 min

4. 4

   Cool the guiso completely, ideally leaving it overnight in the fridge.

   20 min

5. 5

   Knead a dough from the masarepa, warm stock, annatto fat and salt until pliable.

   20 min

6. 6

   Warm the banana leaves, spread a disc of dough on each and add guiso, olives, raisins and capers.

   45 min

7. 7

   Wrap in two leaves, tie them crosswise with string and boil them for an hour and twenty.

   90 min

About the dish

The guiso is made the day before and cooled completely. A warm filling melts the dough from within and the hallaca falls apart in the pot — that is a rule rather than a convenience.

The dough is coloured with annatto oil rather than turmeric. The orange comes from annatto seeds warmed in oil, and it is the mark of a genuine hallaca.

They are made by the whole family before Christmas, in dozens and hundreds. The jobs are divided: one makes the guiso, one spreads the dough, one wraps, one ties.

Worth knowing

• — Tie the parcels tight. A hallaca that opens takes on water and turns to porridge within ten minutes.
• — Warm the leaves over a flame rather than in water. A wet leaf tears at the fold; a warmed one bends like cloth.
• — Hallacas freeze well once boiled. Reheat them by boiling twenty minutes, still wrapped.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

720 kcal

Protein

36 g

Fat

38 g

Carbs

62 g

More from Venezuela

• Pabellón criollo — A plate in four parts: shredded stewed beef, black beans, white rice and fried plantain.
• Cachapas — Thick pancakes of ground fresh corn, folded around a soft white cheese.
• Asado negro — Beef seared black in burnt sugar and braised for four hours.