What is Hallaca?

Hallaca is a Venezuelan bowl made of corn dough or corn with a mixture of different types of meat as filling. It is then wrapped in banana leaves in individual pieces. This meal is very similar to "Tamales" and "Empanada", both Hispanic dishes, which also have a filling inside pieces of dough. Hallaca can be alternatively written "Hayaca" and is also considered part of Mexican cuisine.

There are many explanations as Hallaca happened. One story says Hallaca was made as a slave food during the colonial times of Venezuela. During the Christmas celebrations, owners of owners and plantations would give their slaves and workers the remaining food from their holiday meals. Slaves would mix the remnants and make them as a filling inside the corn meal and eventually created Hayac.

other sources even mentioned what foreign slaves would repeatedly call "alla" and "aca", translated as "there" and "here" while pointing to the plate of their master and on their own corn cakes, indicating that the Lord dIt is some food to make their corn cakes more like. The combination of these two words became the name of the bowl: Hallaca. Other accounts say that Hayaca really came from Tamales, a bowl whose roots go to the Mayan and Aztec civilizations.

Hallcas preparation and cooking usually takes a long time, so they are usually produced in huge doses that can take several days of holidays. The corn dough is usually prepared initially by heating the anatto seed in olive oil until the oil. In a separate pan, spices such as pepper, coriander seeds, garlic and onions are fried and cooked to make vegetable stock. Annatto and plant stock seeds are then combined and tense to prevent small dough. The corn meal is then added and mixing gradually until the dough is soft but strong enough to keep its shape.

meat used for filling usually includes beef, chicken and vepElbe meat, all of which are steamed along with other ingredients such as olives, capers and raisins. Peppers, Garbanzos and nuts can also be added to create a robust consistency. The dough then extends to pieces of banana or sausage leaves and a tablespoon of meat is placed in the middle. The finished Hallaca is then rolled and packed in the leaf, secured by tying the cord around it. Hallcas are either cooked or steamed before they are and served.