16+ Hours To Make 1 Vote Count

For those of you who don’t know, last weekend there were presidential elections in my country, Venezuela.  If you have come across this blog, then you must know a little bit about my country, and what we have been going through in the past decade.  If you don’t know anything about it, I urge you to find out on your own.  Google it.  I don’t want to tell you one side of the story.  I want you to come up with your own opinion about the situation my country is going through.  Then you can continue to read my story.

Every Venezuelan who lives outside of Venezuela, has the right and the duty to go to the nearest Venezuelan consulate and vote in any Venezuelan elections.  The consulate has the duty to facilitate a site and all the material necessary to hold elections in an established location.  Due to the inconvenient fact that the Venezuelan consulate in Miami was closed, and the inefficient Venezuelan government has failed to reopen it, all Venezuelans in Miami and Florida have been forced to travel to New Orleans in order to exercise their right and duty to vote.  This is not new.  Venezuelans already had to do this in the past elections on October 7th, 2012.  I was unable to attend those elections, due to personal and financial difficulties.  I stayed home all day long incredulously watching the Venezuelan news channels, Facebook and Twitter feeds.  I also felt incredibly guilty for not voting.

This time around, I knew in my heart I couldn’t stay at home and watch it on TV.  I had to be there and make my mark.  Because every vote counts and I had to do whatever I could.  I still have those same personal, financial, work and family difficulties that I had last time, but I had to do what I felt was the right thing to do in my heart.

This is the story of how I exercised my duty and my right to vote in the Venezuelan presidential elections on Sunday, April 14th, 2013 from Miami to New Orleans.

The information regarding the date and location of where the voting would be held for Venezuelan voters in Miami came in only a few weeks before voting day.  This wasn’t favorable for those of us who had to plan ahead in order to travel and vote.  I began looking for options.  Luckily, the same organizations that helped Venezuelans travel from Miami and other locations to New Orleans in October were ready to do it again this time.  There were a couple of options to travel by bus and also by plane.  I knew I couldn’t afford to travel by plane, so I discarded that option right away.  There were at least two options that I knew of to travel by bus.  I found the information through http://demiamipaneworleans.com/, http://votodondesea.com/, and through an e-mail I received from “La Hermandad Venezolana” (The Venezuelan Brotherhood).  I asked every Venezuelan I knew that lived in South Florida, if they were planning on going to New Orleans to vote.  I asked twice through Facebook, and only one friend answered.  I felt disappointed.

I coordinated with that one friend so I wouldn’t have to travel ‘alone’.  She was going to travel with her mom and dad, and she offered to allow me to come with them once they decided what travel option they would choose.  Her dad even went to get a spot on the bus for me, because I live a bit far from where they sell the tickets for the bus.  I will be forever grateful to her and her family for helping me find a way to travel to New Orleans, and allowing me to come with them so I didn’t have to go by myself.

Once I knew I had a way to go, I felt relieved.  I planned the trip; I packed really light, and got there early and ready to go.  The Venezuelan Brotherhood provided the bus we traveled in.  Thanks to their efforts, and the donations they received from other Venezuelans who would be unable to make arrangements to go vote, they were able to take 55 Venezuelans on an executive bus all the way to New Orleans to vote for only $60.00 per person.  This was the cheapest option.  It included a round trip bus ticket to New Orleans aboard an executive bus, some refreshments and the opportunity to vote.

I left early on Saturday morning to be at Café Canela, the Venezuelan restaurant from where the bus would leave, at 3 pm.  We were told to be there at 2 pm.  I walked towards the establishment and I saw a man holding a clipboard and writing down names.  I asked if the seats were to be assigned on first-come-first-served basis.  He said yes, so I asked if I could write down my friend and her family’s name down so we could all sit together.  He asked what was her name, and when I told him, he said, “That’s my daughter”.  We laughed and then I went inside to grab a bite.

Since the city in South Florida where I live has little to no Venezuelan food to offer, I had to take advantage of this opportunity and have a bite at Café Canela.  I had a cheese empanada and a tequeño.  My friend and her mom arrived later.  I hadn’t seen my friend in a while, and I hadn’t spoken to her much since I spent 5 years in Alabama.  We had a lot of catching up to do.

Once we boarded the bus, I felt overwhelmed and anxious.  We left at 3:45 pm from Café Canela.  We were supposed to leave at 3, but there was a misunderstanding with the bus company.  Everyone in the bus was excited.  A couple of the organizers from the Venezuelan Brotherhood and even a couple of the passengers in the bus stood up and said a few encouraging words and prayers through the microphone.  Everyone was in a good mood, and we even had a joke contest to win a hat from the Venezuelan Brotherhood.  Another contest involved naming towns of Venezuela to win a shirt.  The bus was filled with laughter, joy, prayers, even a domino game or two, and Venezuelan music.

My friend’s dad, who owns a Venezuelan food delivery business, even gave out free tequeños and Venezuelan snacks to all passengers.  My friend and I had a lot to catch up on and discuss.  And that was all we did from the moment we left until right after midnight, when we were so tired we just had to sleep.

The sleeping-in-a-bus experience wasn’t a good one.  The seats were small and narrow.  Not to mention the front of the bus was freezing, while the back was hot.  The ladies behind us begged us to put our seats upright so they wouldn’t smash against their knees.  Meanwhile the ladies in front of us had their seats reclined as far as they could go.  My friend and I didn’t care.  We were prepared for this trip to be tough.  She had advised me to bring a pillow and a blanket and I did.  However, it was still a rough first night.  I barely slept.  I woke up about 4 times and slept a total of about 4 hours.  It rained most of the night.  At some times, the soft rain tapping my window would make it easier to sleep.  At other times, the bright light from the lightning would wake me up, as I felt there was someone right outside my window taking a picture with a very powerful flash.

We had several stops along the way.  We wanted to keep them short since we were already running late from our delay when leaving.  It was quite a funny scene.  Everyone rushing, but not exactly for the bathroom or the food, instead everyone ran to be the first one to find an outlet and plug their phones, tablets and laptops.  Some smart travelers, probably from traveling before in October, had brought power strips that allowed for several passengers to plug into one outlet.  After plugging the devices, they could go to the bathroom calmly knowing they would be back at 100% batteries in no time.

We arrived to New Orleans on Sunday morning just after 6:00 am.  We stopped at the French Press Coffeehouse for breakfast.  It was pouring.  I couldn’t help but laugh as I heard Venezuelans on the bus trying to figure out what kind of coffee to order.  You see; this isn’t Miami.  They don’t have cortaditos, marroncitos, café con leche, or guayoyos.  Venezuelans are very particular about their coffee.  I helped Mr. Augusto try to figure out what kind of coffee he should order.  We finally concluded he would get the Café Latte and add an extra shot of espresso in order to make it seem like his favorite marroncito.  I was happy to help, since I had spent 5 years in Alabama trying to order the perfect café con leche for myself.  I sat with Mr. Augusto and he told me how his daughters had lived here in the US for almost 30 years.  They didn’t have a Venezuelan ID, so they couldn’t vote.  He told me how his wife was sick, and she couldn’t vote either.  So he came alone.  A couple of other passengers joined our table, the ‘charging-station’ table.  Mr. Augusto was telling us about this doughnut-type thing he had once before in downtown New Orleans, and perhaps he would take a trip down there after voting just to have it again.  We figured out he was talking about these famous beignets.  They were sold at a famous place called Café Du Monde.  Mr. Augusto didn’t realize that we were right across the street from a second location of that same Café.  So he decided he was going to get up and go buy some for us to try.  I decide to go with him, rain and all.  We crossed the street carefully and Mr. Augusto bought two orders of three each of these famous beignets.  We crossed back, soaked.  And he shared them with the table, and the table next to us.  These beignets were really good.  They were worth crossing the street in the pouring rain.

Beignet

Now that we lifted our spirits with some non-Venezuelan coffee, some fried treats, recharged our devices and visited the restrooms, we were ready to head out and vote.  We arrived at the Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center around 8 or 9 am, I can’t remember, I was too excited to care for the time. It was chaotic and it was still pouring.  We weren’t sure of how the actual process would be, so we didn’t know if we should take our backpacks, or purses with us.  One organizer found out that they would hold the bags for you at the door, and then give you a ticket for you to retrieve it after voting.  That was a relief, since I wanted to at least change my shirt.  We put on our ponchos and took out our umbrellas and got off the bus right in front of the building.  My friend saw a Venezuelan actor, and we were about to take a picture with him, but we heard one of the many volunteers as she kept shouting “People from the Venezuelan Brotherhood bus: put on your ponchos, take out your umbrellas and follow me.  There is a lot of walking and you will get soaked”.  She took us to the right side of the building, around the building, to the back of the building.  We came in through the back of the building into a big convention-like room, and began to stand in a line that went like a snake from one side of the room to the other side several times.  As we stood in line, my friend’s dad said hello to many of his customers that recognized him.  I heard one person say, “What’s his name again? The cheese-guy?”  There was a man standing on a platform with a megaphone, and he announced he was going to say something and we should listen and sing along.  He began singing the Venezuelan national anthem.  Everyone started singing with him.  It was an exhilarating moment.  It took me back to when I was a kid and I had to stand in line in the school’s patio and sing the national anthem in front of the flag.  Back then it didn’t make me feel anything but annoyed that I had to do that.  Now I felt something in my heart that I couldn’t describe with words, something gave me goose bumps.

The line moved at a good pace.  We finally got to a door and I gave my Air Force backpack to the volunteers and they gave me my blue ticket.  I went through the doors and then realized they led outside the building.  Good thing it was no longer raining.  I passed a checkpoint and the girl told me what table number and what book volume I would be in and then she wrote it with a sharpie marker on my hand.  She told me to go down the stairs and then make a left.  So I went down the stairs towards the outside of the building, then made a left to go around the entire building again.  Then I arrived at a different entrance to the left side of the building.  I entered and had to go through a security checkpoint.  They checked my purse and everything.  Then I entered another door and finally saw the voting tables.  I showed the guy my hand, and he told me table 9 all the way in the back to your right.  He was wrong; table 9 was to the left.  I got to the table; the lady checked my Venezuelan ID number, looked for me in the list.  She told me to sign next to my name and stamp my right thumb fingerprint next to that.  Then the next person, a man, told me exactly how to mark my selection on the ballot and to fold it four times.  I went behind the cardboard, made my selection.  Folded the paper in two (I forgot he said four), I came back out, retrieved my ID, deposited the ballot in box number 2, and then the lady proceeded to dip my pinky into the ink.  She told me this wasn’t the same ink used in Venezuela, because US customs didn’t allow them to bring it into the country.  So this ink would wash out easily and it was black instead of blue/purple.  She told me not to rub it, so it would stick.  And so I did, I kept my creepy looking black pinky all day long.

This was the first time I had ever voted in an election.  I felt proud, dignified, and splendid.  I felt so good, I wanted to share something with the world, and I wanted to try to inspire others to vote, so they too could feel as good as I felt.  I posted the following words on Facebook (I posted this in Spanish, but here is the translation):

“Dear Venezuelans,

In the past 14 years I have seen you complaining.  I have seen you in thousands of photos wearing the colors of your political party.  I have seen you in manifestations.  I have seen you in protests.  I have seen you criticizing the other political party.  I have seen you supporting your party.  I have seen you making fun of the other candidate.  I have seen you leaving the country.  I have seen you crying.  I have seen you upset.  I have seen you asking all your contacts to add your new PIN number, and to delete the old one, because you were mugged and your Blackberry was stolen.  I have seen you afraid.  I have seen you disappointed.  I have seen you willing.  I have seen you defeated.  I have seen you kidnapped.  I have see you searching desperately for Harina PAN.  I have seen you counting your bills.  I have seen you in the daily traffic jam on your way to work.  I have seen you going pharmacy to pharmacy in order to find your medicine.  I have seen you looking for and selling your American dollars.  I have seen you… or better yet, I haven’t seen you, because there was a power outage.

Sadly, and luckily I have only seen all of this through the TV, Facebook, Twitter and text messages.  However, the fact that I don’t live in Venezuela doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt me to know that my country is going through this situation.  That it doesn’t hurt to know that thieves have entered my family’s home and robbed them, while they were inside.  That they knock on their car window while they drive and steal their cell phones.  That I am unable to communicate with them because there is a power outage almost every day.  That they have no future, because they are unable to get into the University unless they pay someone, even if they have the best grades. That they don’t receive their pension from the government.  That not only they have to be strong to fight Cancer, but they also have to be strong enough to endure long lines, waiting and searching for the medications needed for the treatment. That the little money they have isn’t enough to buy the heart medicine required for them to be able to sleep at night.  That they are afraid to go outside of their homes every single day.  That they are unable to find jobs. That they are unable to come visit me and attend my graduation because it is impossible to find American dollars and even if they could find them, the little money they have isn’t enough.  That they have to sell what little they own because they are afraid it will be taken from them.

For all of this and a whole lot more I am here in New Orleans.  After paying for my bus ride.  After 16 hours in a bus, after 860 miles.  After sleeping only a few hours.  After the neck pains.  After being soaking wet from walking under the rain.  After my much needed morning coffee to get enough energy.  After standing in line to enter the Pontchartrain Center.

I have proudly exercised my right and my duty to vote for my country.

Please, consider what is at stake here and vote; it doesn’t cost you a thing.  And if it does cost you a little, I think it is worth it.”

After I voted, on my way out of the voting room, back into the large convention-like room and out towards the front of the building, I picked up my backpack.  I waited for my friend, and as I was waiting I noticed that a woman on the outside of the building asked a security guard if she could go back inside to use the bathroom.  He told her that once outside you couldn’t go back inside.  Once my friend came out, I told her I was going to use the bathroom before I went outside of the building.  I just wanted to change my shirt and use some moist towelettes I had brought to attempt to freshen up.  In the bathroom there were two lines, one for the stalls and another one to charge the phones.  I changed my shirt and freshened up, washed my face and brushed my teeth, brushed my hair and put some makeup on.  I couldn’t help but remember that movie ‘The Terminal’ with Tom Hanks.

I left the building and looked for my friend and her parents.  They were deciding whether to stay there in the outskirts of the building where other Venezuelans who had already voted were dancing, singing and waving the Venezuelan flag, or if they wanted to take a cab and go somewhere like downtown, a shopping mall or restaurant elsewhere.  The cab fare was a bit pricey, so I decided to stay put and simply wait for the bus drivers to take their required sleeping time before we headed back to South Florida.  The rest of the day was mostly sunny, but still a bit windy, and cloudy at times.

Venezuelans Vote In New Orleans

I felt right at home, listening to Venezuelans discussing politics, singing Venezuelan songs with their cuatros, dancing and making this voting experience a celebration of our rights and duties.  I walked around with some little cards I had printed out to promote this blog.  As I handed them out to random strangers, it felt more like handing them out to members of my family or friends.  I would say “Here you go, free Venezuelan recipes online”, and people would say, “great, thank you”.  Some would ask questions about what kind of recipes I had and even share their recipes and stories with me.  I walked back and forth all over and around the building and interacted with everyone I could.  Of all the people there, I only saw two Venezuelans friends, one from South Florida, and another friend who went to my same school in Venezuela.  I saw the voters who came from South Florida by plane later on during the day.  They certainly seemed a lot more rested and refreshed than the early bus-traveling voters.  But they all had the same energy and enthusiasm to vote.

Venezuelans Vote In New Orleans

It was almost time to leave.  We had to be back at the bus at 3 pm. So we walked towards the bus passing the hotel next to the Civic Center.  Once we got there we had to wait around 15 minutes in order for the bus to cool down, because the inside was very hot from sitting in the sun all day.  Before we left, we took a group photo in front of the bus.  After boarding, people’s hopes were high.  We expected a big win. Several voters on the bus shared their prayers, their stories and more.

One traveler, the son of one of the organizers, was unable to vote.  He had already voted back in October, but this time his ID was questioned and he wasn’t allowed to vote.  I felt bad for him, he traveled so far, he was the designated bus ‘flight-attendant’, he passed out all the sandwiches, drinks and even took our trash, but he wasn’t allowed to vote.  Another traveler, Mr. Pedro told his heartbreaking story, of how his daughter is still in Venezuela, graduating this year from college and as he choked up, he told us how he hasn’t seen her, kissed her or hugged her in 5 years, and how he has to tell her he loves her via text, Facebook, and tweets.  I really sympathized with Mr. Pedro, because I haven’t seen my mom since August 2007, and my dad since September 2006.

There was an 80-year-old couple, in the front of the bus.  They were originally from Cuba, and immigrated to Venezuela a long time ago.  They lived in Venezuela for a long time; I think a decade or so.  They came to the US most recently escaping a second dictator.  They were an inspiration, not only were they married for a long time, but they seemed so loving and romantic still, holding hands almost the entire trip.  But they were also an inspiration, at that age, to take such a long trip of around 860 and then back, just to cast their vote for a second home, a second country.  Truly inspirational.

Another couple of travelers didn’t travel to vote.  They were a reporter and a photographer from South Florida’s Sun Sentinel.  They came along the trip with us, they endured the same heat, rain, cold, cramped, long tedious journey just to document our stories.  Doreen, the reporter, shared with us how she had lived in Venezuela, how she had been there documenting the massacre during the protests back in April 2002.  How she interviewed a teacher who had witnessed a victim dying right in front of her.  She expressed how that time in Venezuela was tough for her, and how she hasn’t visited Venezuela ever since.  Then she told us how much she had enjoyed this trip.  Reconnecting with Venezuelans, our culture, our people, some words she had forgotten, and how she was glad she could join us on this journey.  Read her story here, watch a video here, and view photos from photographer Michael here.

Several other travelers stood up, took the microphone and told their stories and prayers.  Then we made a couple of stops.  Everyone was mostly worried about charging their devices so we could see the results as they were announced.  After the last stop, as we all had our batteries filled to the max, we waited for the results.  Once we heard it, the bus was just silent.  We couldn’t believe it.  We were upset, sad, we felt indignation, and we didn’t know what to say.  I personally couldn’t contain the tears.  My friend hugged me, and comforted me, but there was nothing anyone of us could do… after everything we did do.  I was so tired and sad, I barely texted my husband and my sister, and I fell asleep.  The rest of the night I mostly heard discontent, rain, sniffles, crying, snoring, and the bus’ horn.  We stopped a couple more times before we made it back home.  The ride was uncomfortable, I couldn’t sleep, but at the same time I was so tired that I couldn’t wake up.  It took all my energy to just get up every time we stopped, and get off the bus to go use the bathroom.  The ride back was definitely the worst.  Defeated, tired, hungry, cold, and sad.

Once we made it back home, it was Monday morning around 8 am.  We still had some energy left, and maybe some hope that something could still be done.  Demand a recount.  That is our hope.

As I hugged my husband when he came to pick me up, as I ordered another empanada an a tequeño, and an arepa at Café Canela, and as I told this entire story to my husband, all I wanted to do was to be there, in my country, figuring it out, protesting, demanding a recount. But there is little I can do from here now. I can listen to the news all day long, I can post on Facebook and twitter any important news I find, I can write this blog, I can urge people to sign this petition to Call upon the International Community to urge that a full recount of votes be done in Venezuela’s presidential elections, but that is as much as I can do. What I could do, I already did. I voted, and no one can take that away from me.

Vote

Recipe: Ensalada de Remolacha | Venezuelan Beet Salad

I wasn’t sure how to call this recipe, and I don’t know where it came from or how it came to be. All I know is that I have always called this salad the “Ensalada Rusa”, which means Russian Salad. I just didn’t want to call this recipe the ‘Venezuelan Russian Salad’, because that doesn’t make sense. However, I am pretty sure that is not the name for this salad, because when I Google it I get the recipes for a different salad, a salad similar to chicken salad or Olivier Salad.

When I was a kid I was not a fan of the word salad or “ensalada”. When I would ask “What’s for lunch?”, I didnt want to hear that salad was on the menu. However, my mom used to make this beet salad all the time, because she knew it was the one salad I would eat, and even ask for seconds. My grandma also used to make the same beet salad, but she included lettuce in it, and I wasn’t a fan of the lettuce addition. I would still eat it, but I probably wouldn’t ask for seconds. This salad is delicious, mainly because it’s not really a salad. I consider it more of a side dish, a carb-loaded side dish. And who doesn’t love carbs?

These past holidays my sister came to visit us from Venezuela and I asked her to help me cook some of my favorite dishes so I could blog about them and post the recipes. As soon as she told me she always makes this salad back home, I knew I had to go buy the ingredients and have her show me how to make it. I had never found a good recipe online, and I wanted to know how my mom used to make it. So we bought all the ingredients and she made it for me. It was just like my mom used to make it, and it was very easy, too.

One thing you must know… this salad is pink! My sister and I even thought it would be a great salad or side dish to serve at a bachelorette’s party, girl’s baby shower or party… or any pink themed party!

Ingredients Venezuelan Beet Salad

What you need:
– 3 Small to Medium Potatoes
- 3 Eggs
- 2 Beets
- 2 to 3 Carrot Sticks
- ¼ Chopped Onion
- ½ Cup Mayo
- 1 Teaspoon Vinegar
- 1 ½ Teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 Teaspoon Salt

Preparation:

1. Rinse all the vegetables. You don’t have to peel the beets, in fact, you shouldn’t. But you can peel the potatoes and carrots if you wish to save some time.
2. Boil the beets in a large pot with enough water to cover them entirely. You don’t have to boil all the vegetables separately, but it is preferred that you do. (Beets usually take around 45 minutes)
3. On a separate pot boil the potatoes and carrots. (About 15-20 minutes)
4. On a separate pot, boil the eggs. (About 7 minutes – and peel once done)
5. Once all your vegetables are ready, you can put them in a bowl with cold water and ice so they are easier to handle.
6. Cut all the ingredients in small cubes and put them in a large bowl. Don’t forget the onion.

Cut into small pieces

Add vegetables and eggs in a large bowl

7. Add the mayo, vinegar and lemon juice and mix well, but delicately so you don’t smash any ingredients and it turns into puree.

Add the mayo and mix delicately

8. Add salt to taste and you can add white pepper if you wish.
9. Serve cold.

Ensalada de Remolacha | Venezuelan Beet Salad

Ensalada de Remolacha | Venezuelan Beet Salad

¡Buen Provecho!

*Optional: Some people (like my grandma) like to add finely chopped lettuce to this salad. My mom also adds a bit of mustard sometimes. Other people add a bit of extra virgin olive oil and even a touch of soy sauce.

Recipe: Yuca Sancochada o Frita | Venezuelan Boiled or Fried Cassava

First and foremost, DO NOT EAT RAW YUCA!  Raw yuca contains two cyanogenic glucosides called linamarin and lotaustralin, which are decomposed by linamarase, thus liberating hydrogen cyanide.  I am no chemistry expert, but this stuff is highly toxic and you could become seriously ill and it could even be deadly.
So, now that I have scared you enough, lets talk about how yummy yucca is, if you dare to eat it, he he.  You have nothing to worry about, as long as you cook the yuca before you eat it.  In Venezuela we eat it all the time, and no one that I know of has ever died from eating yuca. So, seriously, don’t worry.  Just don’t eat it raw.
Yucca is a tuberous root, and in Venezuela we eat it in several different ways.  Yuca is served boiled as a side to our delicious parrillas, rotisserie chicken, or anything you can think of.  We also add it to soups.  We fry it to make delicious yuca fries.  We even prepare it differently to make casabe, a sort of yuca cracker.  So we use it much like you would a potato.  Boiled yuca is usually served hot with a little bit of butter, or a cilantro and parsley mojo, or Guasacaca (specially when eating at parrillas).  Fried yucca is usually served as a side much like French fries, with salt, but you could definitely dip it in a delicious Venezuelan Salsa Verde as well.

Boiled Yuca
What you need:
- 500 gr. yuca (about 1 large or 2 pieces)
- Enough water to cover the yuca
- Salt (to taste)
- Toppings (butter, cilantro and parsley mojo, guasacaca, salsa verde, etc).
Preparation:
1. Cut the tips of the yuca, then peel it and rinse it with water.

Cut, peel and rinse.

2. In a large enough pot, add the water and the yuca (make sure the water covers the yuca entirely).  Turn the stove to high heat until the water starts boiling and then continue to cook for about 30 minutes.

Boil the Yuca

3. Add the salt and then continue to cook for about 15 to 30 more minutes or until the yuca is soft (test like a potato), or until it starts to open up.
4. Drain the yuca and serve hot.
5. You can serve it with butter, with salt, or with a cilantro and parsley mojo, salsa verde or guasacaca.

Yuca Sancochada | Boiled Yuca

Fried Yuca
What you need:
- Same as above, plus oil for frying
Preparation:
1. Follow the instructions for Boiled Yuca.

Yuca Sancochada | Boiled Yuca

2. Make sure you drain the yuca right away, and then let it cool completely. Or better yet, place it in your fridge for it to cool faster.
3. Cut the yuca into sticks.

Cut

4. Heat up enough frying oil and fry the yuca sticks until golden brown all over.
5. Serve hot and sprinkle with salt.
6. You can serve with a yummy dipping sauce like Venezuelan Salsa Verde or Guasacaca.

Yuca Frita | Fried Yuca

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Crema de Apio Venezolano | Venezuelan “Celery Root” Soup

In order for me to tell you about “Apio”, pronounced (ä’ pē-ō), I must tell you about my long journey to find it.  This post is 5-6 years in the making, and one of the reasons I started this blog!
When I was a kid, I used to eat Apio in various different Venezuelan dishes.  At my grandmother’s house they usually served a little bit of Apio Cream (just a thicker creamier soup), as an appetizer before lunch.  My mom sometimes served Apio Creamy Soup as a light dinner.  Apio could be found in big pieces, like you would find carrots or potatoes in a light chicken soup preparation.  My other grandmother used it in her preparation of Sancocho de Pescado (like a fish stew of some sort), in big chunks.  We also ate it in Chupe de Gallina, another chicken soup, but very hearty. I also recall it served as a pure (like mashed potatoes, but of Apio), in some fancy restaurants.  So it’s safe to say, I loved Apio!
Fast-forward a few years… and all of a sudden… I forgot about Apio! I moved to the US, where nobody knows about Apio, and I guess it just slipped my mind. Until, I had a crazy craving for some delicious Apio Soup. So I ask myself, what is apio in English? What does Apio translate to? I “Googled it”. As it turns out, apio means celery. Simple enough. All I have to find is Creamy Celery Soup. Guess what? Campbell’s makes Cream of Celery, so I should probably just go buy one at the store. So I did. I came home with my can of soup, and I cooked it on the stove, and was a bit puzzled about the green color, but hey, the can says Cream of Celery, so it must be right… I try it… YUCK!!!! This isn’t APIO!!!! Of course NOT! Dummy!!!
I go back to the drawing board… Google, that is.  Oh, of course! Apio IS celery, yes, but that is what we in Venezuela call “Apio españa”, Spanish (from Spain) Apio. Ok, my bad! Now I realize I am looking for something else. I call my mom, my aunt, my cousin, my sister, my grandma, my other grandma, and pretty much everyone I know to ask about Apio. I had never seen the raw product, I only saw the cooked product, and so I didn’t know what it was supposed to look like. The general description was “It looks like a potato, but more like a stick of carrot, and with weird limbs coming out of it, like ginger, but it is yellow on the inside”. WHAT? So I begin my search for this Apio. I bought something that sort of matched the description of what they told me, which was called Parsnip. I went home and cooked it. It wasn’t it. I bought Turnip. That wasn’t it either. Finally, after researching all over the Internet, I find out what it was. It is called Celery Root here in America. But guess what? They don’t sell it anywhere. So I asked around all the markets I could find, until I finally found “Celery Root” at a new organic market that had opened up. YES! Finally I get to make my Apio Soup. I buy it, I send pictures to everyone to make sure it is the right one, and they said it was. I make the soup, IT’S NOT IT!!! At least it didn’t taste like it to me, and it wasn’t really yellow, it was more like beige.
I came down to South Florida to visit my family and I asked for my cousin to cook me some Apio. We went to the local Hispanic Super Market, where they sold Celery Root, BUT it was labeled “Celery Root: Apio Venezolano”. So I knew it HAD to be the right thing. And of course, my cousin cooked it for me, and it WAS the right kind of Apio. But then I knew I could only find it either in South Florida or in Venezuela.
Now here I am, after 5 years, back in Florida.  Of course, my first post HAS to be about Apio, because I went to the Hispanic Market called Sedano’s and I found my “Apio Venezolano”.  I bought it, I brought it home, I peeled it (it was yellow, how it’s supposed to be), then I cooked it, it smelled like apio, then I tasted it, and… IT WAS APIO!!!
So, I know only a few of you, those lucky enough to find the real Apio Venezolano, are going to be able to make this recipe. However, I must say the Parsnip version was pretty close to it.  Also, this recipe is good for any kind of tuber vegetable or almost any vegetable for that matter.

Celery Root: Apio Venezolano

What you need:
- 500 grams of Apio Venezolano (about 2 to 3 big pieces)
- 4 ¼ cups of Chicken Broth
- Salt
Optional:
- Queso Blanco (Yet another hard to find ingredient)
- 2 tbsp. butter
- ¼ Onion
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Leeks
- Cream Cheese
Preparation:
1. Peel the Apio. Use a knife first for the tougher parts, and then you can use a regular potato peeler for the rest.

Peel the Apio Carefully

2. Cut the Apio in half, so that it fits in the pot and the water covers it. This step is optional.
3. Cook the Apio and the Chicken Broth in high heat for about 25 minutes, or until the Apio is soft. Just like you would if you where boiling potatoes.

Cook the Apio

4. At this point you can add the optional ingredients for extra flavor, such as the onion (in big pieces so its easy to remove later), the cilantro, the basil and the leeks.

Optional: Cilantro

5. Once the Apio is done, remove the optional ingredients (or you can leave them if you wish), and remove the Apio from the broth.

Remove Apio from Broth

6. Puree the Apio using a food processor (and optional ingredients if you wish), and then slowly add the stock little by little until you reach the desired consistency. This is supposed to be a “cream of apio” soup, but if you puree the apio first, and then add the broth bit by bit, mixing well, you can stop adding broth when you have reached the desired consistency, so you don’t have a soup that is too thick or too thin. You can also add the optional butter here to help it reach the desired consistency.

Puree the Apio

7. Return the mixture to the pot and cook on low heat for another 10 minutes or so. You can add the remaining broth if it starts to thicken too much.

Pureed Apio

8. Serve with optional cubes of Queso Blanco, or toast, or Cream Cheese, or all three. I myself like to have the cream cheese on the table and just scoop some into my soup and eat a little piece with each spoonful. Delicious!

Optional: Queso Blanco

Crema de Apio Venezolano

Venezuelan Cream of Celery Root

¡Buen Provecho!

Just for reference of what apio ISN’T, here are the pictures of the first attempt of Celery Root bought at a local organic market. NOT Venezuelan Apio for sure!

Celery Root, but NOT Apio Venezolano

Celery Root, but NOT Apio Venezolano

Celery Root, but NOT Apio Venezolano

Celery Root, but NOT Apio Venezolano

More on Apio
Other names I have found for Venezuelan Apio include Celeriac and Arracacha, but I haven’t confirmed these myself.
Also, Apio could be a good substitute for Potatoes in all kinds of preparations, because it has less calories (nutritional facts coming soon).

10,000 Tasters (Visits)

WOW…

When I posted the “1,000 Tasters” post I never thought I’d be posting a “10,000 Tasters” so soon.  But here we are, and I am so thankful for the great feedback I’ve received on my blog so far.  I initially began this post as an inspiration to myself, and to help others who where in the same situation as I was.  Away from home, and trying to cook Venezuelan recipes on my own, the way my mom and grandmothers used to.

It has been fun to read what other people think about the blog and the stories of each recipe and the adventures in finding authentic Venezuelan food and flavors.  All these responses, questions, comments, re-blogs and likes make want to keep writing for others.  I love preparing, editing, writing and sharing these recipes with everyone and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Please keep stoping by, responding, asking, commenting, re-blogging and liking my posts, because it inspires me to cook and write about it more often.

Thank you again for all the visitors. And as always, you may leave a response in this blog if you have any recipe request, question or comment.

¡Buen Provecho!

–Update

Dear followers,

I have not posted any more recipes in a long time. I recently have moved from Montgomery, Alabama back to the greater Fort Lauderdale area in South Florida. Although this has been a time-consuming and kind of chaotic event that has interfered with my availability to write new posts for the blog, there is some good news.  The good thing about living here in South Florida is the fact that now I can find all kinds of Venezuelan ingredients and products that where very difficult to find in Montgomery, Alabama.

So, I can’t promise I will have time in my new life here in South Florida to post a new recipe every Wednesday, but I will try my best to do so… And I will also include information and my personal ratings on local Venezuelan restaurants and stores that you can visit if you are ever in this area.

Hope to write a new post soon.

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Pasticho Venezolano | Venezuelan Lasagna

One of my favorite dishes is Pasticho Venezolano. The beef, the pasta, and the cheese… what’s not to like?  Venezuelan Pasticho is a little different than your regular lasagna.  The main difference is that Venezuelan Pasticho doesn’t include ricotta cheese, and to me that is PERFECT, because I don’t care for ricotta.  Our Pasticho is plain and simple, but that is what I love about it, you can appreciate all the flavor of the seasoned ground beef, the mozzarella and the pasta without any one of them overpowering the other, like ricotta does.  We do make it creamier and more interesting by adding layers of béchamel sauce. YUM!

What you need:
- 1 or 2 boxes of lasagna pasta
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
Beef Filling
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- ½ Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- ½ Tablespoon Adobo
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Onion
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1 28 oz can of cut tomatoes, peeled
- 2 Tablespoons Red or White Wine
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Teaspoon Oregano
- 1 Tablespoon Cilantro
- 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
- 1 Teaspoon Basil
Béchamel Sauce
- 2 Tablespoon Butter
- 2 Tablespoon Flour
- 1 1/3 Cup Milk, hot
- 1/8 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/8 Teaspoon Pepper

Preparation:
Beef Filling
1.  Spice up the ground beef with the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and adobo.  Set aside.

Add Condiments to Ground Beef

2.  Add the butter and olive oil in a pan and heat it up just a bit until butter is melted.  Then add the onion and garlic, finely chopped, and cook until golden brown.  About 4 minutes.

Heat up Butter and Olive Oil

Add Finely Chopped Onion

Add Garlic

3.  On a separate pan begin to brown the ground beef.  Remember to drain the excess oil when done.

Brown Ground Beef

4.  Blend the tomatoes using a blender or food processor.
5. Add the tomatoes, wine, salt, pepper, oregano, and finely chopped cilantro to the onions and garlic.
6.  Combine the meat with the tomato mixture.

Combine Beef With Tomato Mix

7.  Add the tomato paste (diluted in water as directed on the can), and then add the basil as well.
8.  Continue to cook at low heat, covered, for a while until the sauce reduces and thickens.  If it is too dry, you can add more tomato paste, but don’t add water or the sauce will bee too thin.

Cook at Low Heat

Béchamel Sauce
9.  In a small pot, heat up the butter.
10.  Add the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Lower the heat.
11.  Beating with a whisk, begin to slowly add the hot milk.
12.  Add salt and pepper, and a touch of nutmeg if you wish.
13.  Cook until it thickens and set aside.

Béchamel Sauce

Cooking the Pasta
14.  Follow the instructions on the box of the pasta.
15.  Some pasta boxes state that you can cook them directly in the oven.  I prefer to boil the pasta first, even if the box says you do not need to do so.  Boil the pasta as you would any other pasta.  Boil enough water, add a bit of salt and olive oil, then add the pasta into the pot and cook until tender.  You can leave the pasta “al dente” so that they can finish cooking up in the oven.
16.  Lay the pasta flat on a baking sheet, separated so they wont stick to one another.

Lay Pasta Flat

Making the Pasticho
17.  Preheat the oven at 350º.
18.  Grease a 19” x 13” Pyrex with butter.

Greasy Pyrex with Butter

19.  Begin by making a layer of pasta so that there are no spaces left between them at the bottom of the Pyrex.

Begin with a layer of pasta

20.  Add Béchamel sauce on top of the pasta.

Béchamel Sauce goes on top of pasta

21.  Add a layer of the beef filling.
22.  Add a layer of Parmesan cheese.  You can add a layer of ham if you wish.

Layer of Beef, and then Layer of Parmesan Cheese

23.  Repeat: Layer of pasta, layer of béchamel sauce, layer of beef filling, but now add a layer of Mozzarella.

Repeat: Pasta, Béchamel Sauce, Beef, but now add Mozzarella24. Repeat until you have used all the beef filling. 25. The last layer would be one layer of pasta, béchamel sauce and Parmesan cheese. You can also add bits of butter here and there, about a tablespoon all over. 26. Place in the oven until the top layers are golden. Make sure you check it so it does not burn. Since we boiled the pasta, it is already cooked. What you are looking for is for all the layers of cheese to melt and for it to all be compacted together. So it could be done in 10 to 30 minutes depending on your oven.Bake until cheese is melted and top layer is golden

27.  Serve with tostones, garlic breadsticks and salad (Great Salad recipe coming up next week).

Pasticho Venezolano | Venezuelan Pasticho

¡Buen Provecho!

Navidad Venezolana | Venezuelan Christmas

One of the things I miss the most about Venezuela is our Christmas.  We Venezuelans have a very celebratory spirit.  You just give us an excuse, and we’ll make a party out of it.  So Christmas is definitely a good excuse for a GRAND celebration.  Usually, the entire family gathers in one place and we have a full house of 30+ people for Christmas.  When I was a kid it usually took place at my great-grandparent’s house, where all the aunts, uncles, grandparents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, and even dogs and cats where invited.  They had a pretty big house where they could fit and feed all those people.  I was young and had several cousins my age that I had fun with.  But there were too many guests to bring a present for each, so we usually did a gift exchange in which you give one gift to someone (picket out randomly) and then you got one gift from someone else, so basically like a Secret Santa, but sometimes it wasn’t a secret.  However, within each individual family, the mom and dad exchanged gifts, and the kids all got gifts from everyone and also from Santa!

As I grew older, my great-grandparents passed away, and most of my family immigrated to the United States.  Pretty soon, it was mostly my grandparents, my parents, my sister and I.  Sometimes we spent it with my mom’s side of the family too, which is also pretty large (20 + people).  One time I event went with my dad’s entire family to spend Christmas in Puerto Rico.  Now, I have family in Venezuela, and in Florida, so the possibilities of getting everyone together for Christmas are slim.  But one thing that was definitely present in every single Christmas, no matter who was there, who wasn’t and where we were, was the food!

“La Cena Navideña” (The Christmas Dinner) is something that has to be present during Christmas and New Years Eve in order for it to be considered a real celebration.  No Venezuelan home can be called a Venezuelan home without the traditional Christmas dinner during Christmas, no matter where they live.  Venezuelans celebrate Christmas during Christmas Eve, on December 24th.  Dinner starts late, around 9-11 pm, in true Venezuelan fashion.  Then people exchange gifts (like our gift exchange), and then adults have drinks, talk and dance, while the kids play and try to stay awake to see if they can get a close look at Santa.  The same goes for New Years Eve, where the Christmas Dinner is also present.  Another important Venezuelan Christmas tradition we can never forget about is our Christmas music.  Gaitas, Aguinaldos and Villancicos serve as the perfect soundtrack to a true Venezuelan Christmas.  Gaitas are the most popular music genre during Christmas, originated as church songs, and later becoming popular outside church and during Christmas season.  Aguinaldos and Villancicos are based on Spanish Christmas carols and old carols.

La Cena Navideña Venezolana | Venezuelan Christmas Dinner

The Venezuelan Christmas Dinner Table is the greatest example of the miscegenation of Venezuelan Food.  The different dishes served at a Venezuelan Christmas Dinner are the result of the many different culinary traditions that converged and intermingled in our country, as a reflection of the miscegenation of the country during colonization.  The Hallaca is the main component of the Venezuelan Christmas Dinner, joined by Pernil de Cochino, Ensalada de Gallina, Pan de Jamón, and Dulce de Lechoza (Ham, Chicken Salad, Ham Bread, and Papaya Delicacy).

La Cena Navideña Venezolana | Venezuelan Christmas Dinner

La Hallaca/Hayaca
Pronounced Ah-jac-kah, is the most important component for a true Venezuelan Christmas Dinner.  The origins of the word, the spelling, and the origins of the actual dish have been in dispute for quite some time, so I will give you the versions that I like the most.  As far as the spelling goes, I like Hallaca better.  As far as the origin of the name, I like to believe the word Hayaca comes from the Guaraní dialect, in which “ayua” or “ayuar” means to mix or stir something together, and “ayuaca” is the mixed ‘thing’ that you get.  Then this became “ayaca”, latter “Hayaca”, and finally “Hallaca”.  And as far as the origin of the dish itself goes, I like the story that back in the colonial times, the aristocrats descendants of our Spanish conquerors would enjoy great banquets and the leftovers would be either donated to the slaves or basically taken by them, and then mixed all together, wrapped in corn flour and plantain leafs and boiled.  And once the aristocrats discovered this amazing dish, it was incorporated into their fancy banquets and became our popular Hallaca.  The popular dish that makes an appearance only during Christmas, and brings our families together even for the preparation, which can take up to 2 days and at the very least two people to make at least 50 Hallacas.  The preparation itself is a reason to come together and celebrate, and create an assembly line with positions assigned, like the chopper, the cook, the dough kneader, the wrapper, and the knot maker.

Unfortunately for me (and you), this year I didn’t have a Venezuelan Christmas, and I didn’t have any Hallacas.  So I do not have a personal recipe to share with you.  I can only hope, and promise you, that next Christmas I am surrounded by enough family members to help me make my own Hallacas, and the rest of the Venezuelan Christmas Dinner Menu, so I can share my very own recipe.  I do however, have a GREAT collection of photographs of the complicated process of making Hallacas, that my awesome uncle Fernando took for me, while my beautiful aunt Gaby (the designated Hallaca maker and personal gourmet inspiration and influence) was making Hallacas this year.  And also a couple of links of good Hallaca recipes:

- From Adriana Lopez and Pica Pica with VIDEOS and complete Recipe Booklet!

- From one of my favorite sites Hispanic Kitchen.

And now the photos!

Venezuelan Hallacas Ingredients

Venezuelan Hallacas Ingredients

Venezuelan Hallacas Ingredients

Venezuelan Hallacas Ingredients

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: El Guiso | The Stew & El Aceite Onotado | Annatto Oil

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: La Prensa | The Press

My beautiful Aunty Gaby super ready to make Hallacas

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: La Masa | The Dough

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: Las Hojas de Plátano | The Plantain Leaves

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: Prepping the Dough

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: Adding the Filling

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: Wrapping the Hallaca

The Making of Venezuelan Hallacas: Tying & Cooking

*A very special thank you to Gaby Ojeda and Fernando Sucre for the beautiful images, that still make my mouth water! (I LOVE YOU GUYS)… and guardenme mi Hallaca!

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Pabellón Criollo

The “Pabellón Criollo”, it the most traditional Venezuelan dish after the Arepas.  Pabellón is a word for “pavilion”, but it can also mean the national flag, an ensign, or even a tent.   The Pabellón Criollo, the traditional Venezuelan dish is made up of shredded (or pulled) beef, black beans, rice and fried plantains, as the most basic version of it.   Some people, depending on the part of the country, also add a plain arepa on the side, some avocadoes, some delicious grated white cheese and even a fried egg.  When fried plantains are added, it is known as the “Pabellón con Baranda”.

This dish is our national dish, but it originated in Caracas, the capital city.  People believe this dish is closely related to Venezuelan history and our miscegenation.  This is reflected on the colors of each main component in the dish, black beans, white rice and brown beef.  These three colors symbolize the union of the three races: African, European and indigenous.

We can find Pabellón Criollo in any part of the country, and we even use it to fill our empanadas and arepas.  But we only use the black beans, beef, and plantains to fill those.

Recipes for main components:

- Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded/Pulled Beef)
- Caraotas Negras (Venezuelan Black Beans)
- Arroz Blanco (Venezuelan White Rice)
- Tajadas (Venezuelan Fried Plantains)

Preparation:

1. Make sure you soak the black beans overnight!
2. Prepare the shredded/pulled beef first, as this will take the longest to cook (4 hours).
3. When the beef has been cooking for about 1½ to 2 hours already, begin to cook the black beans (this will take 2 hours).
4. Proceed to remove the beef from the boiling water.  Shred/pull the beef and continue cooking as directed on the recipe (adding the sofrito and stir frying it).
5. Proceed to finish the black beans recipe as well.
6. Set the beef and beans aside, and begin cooking the rice.
7. Make the plantains while the rice is cooking.
8. Finish the rice and the plantains.
9. Serve all together.

Pabellón Criollo Venezolano

Pabellón con Baranda

Tip

- For a fancier presentation of this delicious dish, you can create a Pabellón Criollo tower:

1. Place an oiled pastry ring in the middle of the plate.
2. Add a layer of rice, a layer of black beans, and a layer of beef in equal parts (about one third of the rings height).
3. Top with plantain circles, alternated with cheese or avocado.
4. Decorate with herbs.

Pabellón Criollo Tower

Pabellón Criollo Fancy

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Caraotas Negras (Venezuelan Black Beans)

Venezuelan Black Beans are nothing like your typical Mexican Black Beans.   For starters, they are not spicy at all.   We usually serve them as a side, but we also eat them in soups, as a filling for our famous Arepas, refried, mixed in with white rice, with Queso Blanco on top, and even with sugar on top.   However, they are always present in the traditional Venezuelan Dish, Pabellón Criollo.

Ingredients

What you need:

- 5 Cups of Water
- 1 Cup of Black Beans (washed and strained)
- ½ Red Bell Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon of Oil
- ½ Onion
- 1 ½ “Ajíes Dulces” (Sweet Habanero or Yellow Lantern Chilli)
- ½ Garlic Head
- ½ Tablespoon Cumin

Preparation:

1. Make sure to pick out “bad” Black Beans and little rocks or other impurities from your cup of Black Beans and wash them as well.

Black Beans

Pick Out "Bad" Beans

2. In a large enough pot, add the cup of Black Beans and add the water to them.
3. Let them soak for a maximum of 12 hours and a minimum of 5 hours. (I highlight this step so you remember you have to do this the night before.

Soak Overnight

4. In the same pot that they have been soaking (if you soaked in a pot, not a bowl like I did), add the bell pepper and cook at a medium heat, covered, for about an hour and a half or until they become soften. Add the salt.

Add Bell Peppers

Cook

5. In a different pan make the “sofrito” by frying the onion, the ajíes and the garlic with the oil until they turn brown (about 5 minutes).
6. Add the cumin, stir, and remove from the heat.
7. Add the “sofrito” to the pot where the Black Beans are cooking and reduce the heat.   Let this cook for another 10 minutes, or until the liquid has almost completely evaporated (depending if you will be serving them as a side or as a soup).   However, it is recommended to leave a bit of the liquid so they taste better.

Caraotas Negras (Venezuelan Black Beans)

Tips

- If you wish to refry your leftover black beans, simply sauté them with one or two tablespoons of oil until they become dry and shinny.   Top with Queso Blanco.

*Makes 4 servings.

¡Buen Provecho!

1,000 Tasters (Visits)

Thank you! Today, October 13, 2011, I have reached 1,000 Visits on this blog.   I am honored!   I wished I could thank visitors personally, but I have no way of knowing who they are.   Either way, as a special thank you for visiting my blog I have decided to write this post and leave an open thread for any special Venezuelan Recipe Request or Questions.   So go ahead ask and you shall receive!

Just reply to this post with your requests, questions or comments!!!

Thanks again!

Plantains

Plantains are one of the most popular fruits in Venezuela, probably because they are produced year-round around the country and they are easily grown.   However, plantains are not easy to eat like bananas.   Please don’t buy a plantain, peel it and try to bite into it like you would with a banana.   Plantains must be cooked before you eat them.

Plantains are delicious and can be cooked in many different ways.   Plantains can also be cooked differently depending on the stage of the plantain, which is great, because you don’t have to wait for a plantain to ripen to eat it, and you don’t have to throw away those overripe ones.   You can use unripe (green), ripe (yellow) or overripe (black) plantains.   If you like plantains you can buy yellow, green or even black from the supermarket and make them according to their color.   Also, don’t store them in the fridge.

Unripe | Green | Plátano Verde

Unripe | Green | Plátano Verde

Unripe or green plantains have very hard skin and pulp.   The flavor of this stage of the plantain is not sweet, but sharp.   You can use unripe plantains to cook in broths and soups, as well as to make delicious Tostones (fried plantains with salt).

Ripe | Yellow | Pintón | Maduro

Ripe | Yellow | Pintón | Maduro

Ripe plantains look mostly yellow with only a few black spots, but very little.   These are the most versatile in terms of cooking, because they can be either salty or sweet. With ripe plantains you can cook Tajadas (fried slices of plantains), or Torta de Plátano (plantain cake).

Overripe | Black | Plátano Pasado

Overripe | Black | Plátano Pasado

The skin of overripe plantains is almost all black, and the pulp is kind of sticky and soft to the touch, like a ripe banana.   The flavor of this plantain is very sweet, and it can be caramelized easily.   It also takes the less time to cook.   This stage of the plantain works best for deserts, puréed and also simply baking the plantain and eating with butter or cheese on top.

¡Buen Provecho!

More Delicious Arepa Fillings (Rellenos)

As it turns out, I actually needed more than 4 posts to cover everything there is to know about our delicious Venezuelan Arepas.   So here are some more ideas for delicious arepa fillings. Some of them even have unique names that sort of describe the filling or stuffing in one way or another.   This is probably because we Venezuelans would take too long at an Arepera (Arepa Restaurant) ordering an arepa, trying to decide which of the 20 different fillings to get inside of it.   So then, if we say “Una de Pabellón”, de Arepera knows what we mean.

De Pabellón 

De Pabellón

The “Pabellón”, it the most traditional dish after the Arepas.   Somehow, someone decided to combine the two most traditional Venezuelan dishes into one, making an arepa stuffed with the second dish, Pabellón.   Pabellón is a word for “pavilion”, but it can also mean the national flag, an ensign, or even a tent.   The Pabellón Criollo, the traditional Venezuelan dish is made up of shredded (or pulled) beef, black beans, rice and fried plantains, as the most basic version of it.   Some people, depending on the part of the country, also add a plain arepa on the side, some avocadoes, some delicious grated white cheese and even a fried egg.   Of course that would be way to much stuff to put inside an Arepa, so the basic Arepa de Pabellón simply includes shredded beef, black beans, and fried plantains.

La Dominó
Just like the traditional game of domino’s black and white chips, this arepa has a black and white stuffing or filling.   The Dominó Arepa includes black beans and grated white cheese.

La Dominó

La Viuda (The Widow)
This arepa is a plain and empty arepa.   Usually served as a “side” to other dishes like the Pabellón Criollo, or a delicious fried egg breakfast.

La Pelúa (The Hairy One)
Don’t panic! This arepa doesn’t have any hair.   The filling on this Arepa consists of shredded or pulled beef and Gouda cheese.

La Catira (The Blond One)
This Arepa has more fun! The filling is made up of shredded chicken and Gouda cheese.

La Sifrina (The Snobby One)
This Arepa is too good for you! The filling is the same as the Reinapepiada, but it also has Gouda cheese.

La Rumbera (The Party One)
This arepa is for the 3AM after party munchies.   The filling is Pork and Gouda cheese.

La Rumbera

La Musiua (The “Monsier” One)
This arepa is a burger.   Literally.   It has a burger patty, tomatoes, onions and lettuce, minus the burger buns, inside an Arepa.   I have never had this myself, but it just doesn’t sound right.

La Bomba (The Bomb)
This arepa IS the BOMB! Filled with Perico and Black Beans.

La Pata-Pata
Filled with black beans, Gouda cheese and avocado

De Carne Mechada (Pulled/Shredded Beef)
Filled with delicious shredded beef, just like the one served on the Pabellón dish. 

De Carne Mechada

De Guasacaca
Stuffed with Guasacaca and white cheese.

De Carne Molida
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with ground beef.

De Pernil
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with roast pork.

De Pernil

De Jamón y Queso
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with ham and cheese.

De Pollo
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with pulled chicken.

De Chorizo
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with Spanish Sausage or Chorizo.

De Cazón
Just like the name says it, this one is stuffed with Cazón… what is cazón? Cazón is a small shark, and this is one of my favorites because it is a popular one in the town where I was born, Puerto La Cruz.

Arepa Filling Faux-Pau
Do not by any means use any of these fillings in front of a Venezuelan:

- Peanut butter
- Jelly
- Jam
- Ketchup
- BBQ sauce

¡Buen Provecho!

*Thank you to Flickr photographers who share their photos with Creative Commons licenses.

La Guasacaca

The Guasacaca (Wah-Sah-Kaka), is a Venezuelan version of your typical Mexican Guacamole.   However, in Venezuela we use it as a lot more than just dipping sauce.   As varied as Arepa fillings, the Guasacaca can be very different depending on who’s preparing it.   Some people use some ingredients, and some people leave some ingredients out.   But the most important thing is that it must contain avocados.

The Guasacaca is also multipurpose, since we can serve it with many different things and has many different uses.   In my family, the Guasacaca ALWAYS has to be present when cooking “Parrillas”, which are simply different types of grilled beef.   The Guasacaca would be served as a “sauce” to dip your beef in, or place on top of the beef, and even on top of the other sides such as baked potatoes, Hallaquitas, Bollos, Tostones, or anything else you can think of.

Guasacaca also usually accompanies the famous “Pollo a la Brasa” or what I am guessing would be translated as either barbeque, roasted chicken, or grilled chicken.   But it is usually cooked inside a rotisserie type oven.

The Guasacaca can also be used as a simple dip to serve with chips at all kinds of parties and events.

When my mom made tacos for dinner, she would also make her famous Guasacaca and we would eat it with chips and also put it inside our tacos.

No that I live very far away from home, and I can no longer attend the usual Sunday Parrilla at my grandparent’s house, or have my dad bring home some pollo a la brasa from the Riviera brothers’ restaurant, or even have my mom make tacos with her famous Guasacaca… I guess I have to make it myself.   I usually have some friends over for “Taco Night” and make the now famous Guasacaca, and I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like it.

Taco Night... Featuring Venezuelan Guasacaca

¡Buen Provecho!

Arepas Nutritional Facts

I was curious to know just how bad or good for you arepas are.   So I went ahead and did some calculations. According to the Harina PAN packaging Nutritional Facts, in 1 serving of 30 g. there is:

Calories	110
Calories from Fat	5
Total Fat	0,5 g
Saturated Fat	0 g
Trans Fat	0 g
Sodium	0 mg
Total Carbohydrates	24 g
Dietary Fiber	3 g
Protein	2 g

Harina PAN & Arepa Nutritional Facts

So, if we do some math… ugh math… we can establish that (if you follow my recipe) we are using 1 cup of Harina PAN, which I measured out to be about 170 grams. Out of that I got about 4 arepas, so each arepa would contain about 42.5 grams of Harina Pan, in which with a simple cross-multiplication we can conclude that the nutritional information would be as follows (keep in mind this is just an estimate):

Serving = 1 Arepa of about 42.5 g. of Harina Pan + Water (without adding the salt)

Calories	156
Calories from Fat	7
Total Fat	0,7 g
Saturated Fat	0 g
Trans Fat	0 g
Sodium	0 mg
Total Carbohydrates	34 g
Dietary Fiber	4.25 g
Protein	2.83 g

For those of you in a Gluten Free diet or Low Sodium/Heart Healthy Diet, an arepa can be a healthier alternative to a sandwich, as long as you fill it with healthy fillings like some scrambled egg whites and other cheeses or meats you are allowed to eat.   For the low sodium diets, just don’t add salt to the mix before you prepare the dough.   And you can also use the Harina PAN to make empanadas, tortillas, hallaquitas, tamales and other similar products.

Also I think the arepas made in the Tostiarepa are about twice the size of the arepas I measured out here.

¡Buen Provecho!

***I just realized it took me 4 posts to cover everything about arepas.

Filling Arepas

Yes, arepas are very filling, but no, that’s not what I am talking about.   I am talking about filling them with something.   Arepas are basically the Venezuelan “sandwich”, and more likely than not, whatever you can put in a sandwich, you can put in an arepa.

There are several classic ones, like the “reinapepiada”, the “perico”, and many more that I guess I’ll have to explain, for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about.   The most common filling is definitely the cheese.   Now, cheeses in Venezuela are freshly hand made and probably NOT FDA approved because of how they are prepared, but they ARE delicious and safe to eat.   We have several different types of cheeses for all kinds of taste buds.

The first thing you have to do is cut open your arepa from the side as soon as it is ready, so it is still hot inside.   Then you take out a bit of the dough from inside (to make some space for the filling).   But don’t you dare throw that dough away… IT IS THE BEST PART!   Next, you have to add butter, because… well, everything is better with butter.   You spread some butter inside so it will melt, and some on your extra dough you removed earlier.   Now you fill it with… pretty much anything.

Cheeses

The most common type of cheeses for Arepas are what we in Venezuela call “Queso Blanco”, or simply white cheese.   There are several different kinds of white cheeses in Venezuela like the ones pictured below.   My favorite? I can’t say, because I like them all, but I think for the Arepas there is a three-way tie between Queso Telita, Queso Guayanés, and Queso de Mano, which I don’t know how to make… yet.

Venezuelan Cheeses

Perico

The word “perico” is actually what we call parrots or parakeets.   But for some weird reason we also refer to a very common arepa filling when we talk about “perico”.   I would imagine it’s because the colors in this filling would somehow resemble those of a parrot or parakeet, but I have no clue if I am right.   Perico is made by sautéing some onions and tomatoes thinly chopped and then adding salt and pepper along with beaten eggs in order to make this scrambled eggs concoction.   Some people also add bell peppers to the mix.

Reinapepiada

The reinapepiada is probably the most famous arepa in the country.   The word “reinapepiada” is a combination of two words “reina” and “pepiada”.   The word “reina” means “queen” and the word “pepiada”, as far as the name of this arepa goes, refers to the “curviness” of a Venezuelan beauty queen who won the Miss World back in 1955, Susana Duijm.   The actual filling consists of a salad made with chicken and mayonnaise, to which avocado is added.   Some, like the original recipe, also add some petit poise (small sweet green peas).

Arepa Fillings

As you can see arepas can be filled with anything, from the simple cheese ones, to the rich and famous ones like the reinapepiada.   You can fill them with tuna, shredded beef, chicken, turkey, ham, black beans, salmon, nata, etc.   I even once saw someone eat one with jam (I don’t recommend this, but you can try it if you wish).   This is why the arepa is the most versatile and multipurpose meal in Venezuela.   There are even restaurants or “stands” that are solely devoted to selling arepas.   These are called “areperas”.   You can have an arepa with perico in the morning, because it has eggs in it.   You can have a reinapepiada for lunch, because it has chicken salad.   You can have one for dinner with just cheese, or ham and cheese, because it’s lighter.   And you can also have one at 4 am in the morning when you are on your way home from a rumba (party) and you are starving because you burned all your calories dancing merengue and salsa.   Either way, you can always have an arepa.

El Batiburrillo de Bila

One arepa filling you won’t find anywhere else is “El Batiburrillo de Bila”.   My great grandmother, Nery Russo (95), journalist, writer, poet, editor, cultural promoter, composer, painter, sculptor, magazine owner, Venezuelan “Miss Princesita” pageant creator, investor, politically involved, and even current blogger, CLEARLY didn’t have time for much cooking… however, one time when I visited her she resolved to feed me arepas (because they are so easy to prepare), and then filled them with her own weird concoction, which later I heard from other family members that this was referred to as “el batiburrillo de Bila” (Bila is our nickname for her).   The word “batiburrillo” means a mixture of random things that don’t match, or something like that.   Well her filling is precisely that.   She takes “diablito” (deviled ham in a can) and mixes it with cream cheese and then adds that to arepas.

Batiburrillo Ingredients

El Batiburrillo de Bila

Arepa with Filling

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Venezuelan Arepas

Arepas are very easy to prepare.   First, you will need a few basic things.

- Mixing Bowl

Basic Ingredients and Utensils

- Measuring Spoons

- Measuring Cup

- 1 cup Harina PAN (Discussed here).

- 1 cup lukewarm water

- ½ teaspoon salt

Next, you will prepare the dough.

Add the Harina PAN and the salt into the mixing bowl and mix together using your hands.   Then, little by little add the water and knead and mix the dough using your hands.   You must knead the dough until the mix is soft, firm and has a uniform consistency without any grains.

Add Water, Salt and Harina PAN

Another way if doing it is to first add the water and the salt into the mixing bowl and stir that together, and then proceed to add the Harina PAN little by little.

It is up to you to decide which method to use.   I usually had preferred to mix the water and the salt first, so to make the water salty and spread the saltiness evenly through the dough.   However, I found that using all the water first usually resulted in having to add more Harina PAN to the mix latter in order to get the right consistency.

Therefore I think the best way to go about it is to add the salt to the water in the measuring cup, and have the Harina PAN in the mixing bowl.   That way you add as much water as needed, but you also distribute the salt evenly and then proceed to knead.

Knead Dough

Once the dough is ready you let it sit for 5 minutes.

Let it sit

Now you are ready to form the arepas.   You should grab a handful of the dough, and with both hands make a nice sized ball of about 2” to 2.5” in diameter.   Then you use one hand to hold the ball and the other to flatten it ever so slightly with your fingers, turning it around so you flatten it evenly.   The thickness is really up to you and up to the type of arepa you are going to prepare.   I usually flatten it to about 0.5” or 0.75” thick.   And if you are using a “Tostiarepa” you don’t event have to worry about flatting it, because it will do it for you.   Now that you have the basics, you can decide to cook your arepa in several different ways.

Make Balls

Flatten

Arepas Asadas

This is probably the most common way to cook an arepa.   I believe the translation would be something like roasted or grilled Arepas.   The best way to do this is with what we call a “BUDARE”, which is basically a cast iron round griddle (think Lodge Logic).   You would first seal them at a higher temperature and then cook the inside at a medium temperature flipping them over constantly.

Arepas Asadas

Arepas Fritas

These are probably the most delicious ones, because they are Fried arepas, and lets face it, anything fried tastes 10 times better.   You would simply heat up about 2 cups of oil at medium heat in a pan, or better yet, in a fryer or Dutch oven.   After the oil is hot enough you would fry the arepas for about 10 minutes or until they are golden on both sides.

If you wish to fry your arepas, I recommend that you flatten them further, to about 0.25” thick, and also its tradition to open a hole with your finger in the middle of the fried arepas (don’t ask me why).

Usually, in Venezuelan restaurants, instead of serving bread and butter while you wait for your food to arrive, we serve “arepitas con nata”.   These are small little about 1.5” in diameter (cooked) fried arepas served directly from the fryer with either butter or delicious “nata”, which is hard to explain, because I really never though of it.   It is sort of like a sour cream, but its cheesier and buttery, like cream cheesy but with a more liquid consistency.

Arepas Horneadas

These are baked arepas.   They usually have to be “sealed” using the Arepas Asadas technique on a cast iron round griddle for about 5 minutes on each side on high heat.   Then, they are baked in the oven at about 180º C until they start to puff a bit and the crust starts to come up a bit from the inside dough, which is usually about 20 to 30 minutes.

TostiArepa

The arepa toaster will basically toast the arepas in about 7 minutes.   All you have to do is place a large enough ball of dough on each of the compartments in the toaster and press the cover down.   You should open it back up and check that you had enough dough, or that you didn’t have too much dough.   If you had too much just remove the excess pressed out with your fingers.   If you had too little add more dough and reshape the ball.   You can also add a bit of butter to each compartment before you put the dough in.   I think the toaster is non-stick, but then the crust will taste like butter.

Tostiarepa: Make Balls

Flattened Arepa in the Tostiarepa

Now you are ready to enjoy your arepa with any filling you want.   I will cover fillings in the next post, but for now you can enjoy them with butter, your favorite type of cheese and any kind of sandwich meat.

Tips

Arepas become hardened in only a few hours, so you should cook them when you want to eat them.   Also, if they are already hardened, you can damp a paper towel or two in water, and cover the arepa and then stick it in the microwave for about 30 seconds or so.   You can however prepare the dough and refrigerate it beforehand and then proceed to cook them when you are ready to eat them.   You can also refrigerate leftover dough for about 5 days, just make sure you cover it with a damp cloth and spray with water or even a little bit of oil.   You can also prepare baked arepas by sealing them using the griddle first, then freezing them, and simply baking them for 20 to 30 minutes when you are ready to eat them.

Some people add different things to their dough before they cook the arepa to add flavor to the dough.   I have heard and seen a lot of different additions including milk, oil, butter, cheese, eggs, and even honey.   They all have a different taste, but I have to say I have NEVER tried an Arepa I didn’t like and I have NEVER met anyone who didn’t like Arepas

Check out Arepas on Chef John’s Blog and Also on Bobby Flay Throwdown

¡Buen Provecho!

NEW!!! – Download the One-Page Recipe Printout [Recipe: Venezuelan Arepas PDF Printout] 

La Arepa

The Arepa (ə-’rā-pə) is perhaps the most representative element in Venezuelan cuisine.   The arepa is multipurpose as it is used as an appetizer, a side dish or a main dish.   Arepas can be prepared for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.   The arepa varies in cooking technique, main ingredient, color and filling depending on the region of the country where its prepared.

The main ingredient for arepas in its basic form is corn.   In the beginning, corn was grinded using a mortar to create the corn meal mix to make arepas.   Then came the pre-cooked version of the corn meal, which made the whole process much easier.   The most common and internationally recognized brand of Venezuelan pre-cooked white corn meal is the P.A.N. brand, which we simply call “Harina PAN” (PAN flour).   GOYA makes another version called “Masarepa”.   Another option is MASECA, which makes “Masa Instantanea de Maíz” (Instant corn masa flour).

Harina PAN

Maseca can probably be found either in the flour isle or the ethnic/Mexican food isle at any supermarket.   The Goya version, Masarepa, would most likely only be found in Latin American or Mexican mini markets.   Harina PAN, unfortunately, can only be found in supermarkets that are near a big population of Venezuelans in the US (like Weston, Florida); in Venezuelan supermarkets or through the Internet.   However, I do have to say I found Harina PAN in a little Mexican market located on Eastern Boulevard in Montgomery, Alabama.   Perhaps you guys can share any other places you have found Harina PAN.   Harina PAN can be found online too, just Google it and several online stores that deliver through the US will come up. I found this one.

The name for the Arepa came from the word “erepa”, which in the native Indian tribe’s dialect of the Cumanagoto People means “corn”.   These “Cumanagotos” made arepas in a disk shaped form (much like other corn mix products like Cachapas or tortillas, and even their cooking tools like the budare or comal) to worship the sun and the moon.

Now, arepas are so varied in their aspects that it is good to mention some of the most common ones.   One of my favorites, the sweet one, “Arepa Dulce” or “Arepa de Anís”, has sugar and “Anís” (Anise or Pimpinella Anisum – seeds), it is very thin and when fried one side will end up like a bubble separating the skin from the inside dough, great with a very salty cheese.   Arepas can be baked, grilled, fried or boiled.   With technology now we have what I call the “Toasted Arepa” which is created very easily with the “Tostiarepa” a toaster made specifically to make arepas.   Yes, it makes arepas even easier to make than they already are, but to me, they come out very “fat” and the crust could be sometimes too crispy.   Only one of these will fill you up quickly.   Keep an eye out for arepa recipe coming soon.

Different Arepas

¡Buen Provecho!

UPDATED (Where to Buy Harina PAN):  Yesterday I was shopping at the Winn Dixie on Eastern Boulevard & Vaughn Road in Montgomery, Alabama and I happened to see Harina PAN on the International Food isle, next to the Mexican products. I was looking for the expiration date on the package and I noticed right underneath the expiration date stamp it states “Imported by Goya Foods Inc”.   It is made by Empresas Polar (Large Venezuelan Company), but these ones I found where produced in the Alimentos Polar headquarters in Colombia. Also states “Very low gluten”, which was not the case in the packages being imported from Venezuela.   Just though I’d let you know what I found. Each package cost $3.29. *I think maybe Goya will start to import this product to other locations soon, and hopefully on their website as well.

Where to Buy Harina Pan

Venezuelan Cuisine

If you know a bit about Latin American History, you can infer how our cuisine came to be. Our foods have clear influences of our indigenous tribes who inhabited the country before it’s discovery. However, we also have strong European influences, due to the fact they discovered our land.

The use of locally grown products such as corn and cassava is predominant in most of our dishes. However, our most common dishes vary in some ingredients or techniques from one country region to another. Which is explained by the fact that some products may be acquired easier in some regions of the country than in others, as well as that particular region’s traditions.

Our most common dishes all over the country include the famous Arepas, Empanadas, Pabellón Criollo, the Christmas favorite “La Hallaca”, Cazabe, Cachapas, Tostones, Tequeños, Asado Negro, Guasacaca and many more.

Venezuelan food can be as unique as our Hallacas (Ah-jac-kas), a dish prepared exclusively during the Christmas holidays and only by Venezuelans, or as common as Empanadas (ĕm’pə-nä’dəs), which can also be found to be common in Colombia, Argentina and other Latin American countries but made with slightly different ingredients and cooking techniques.

Food in Venezuela also differs between regions in the country, and also even between families. You may often find that Hallacas could be so different from one family to another, even within the same region due to the difference in techniques and ingredients.

However, no matter where you go to have some Venezuelan food, I promise you will taste something you’ve never tasted before and you will love it.

¡Buen Provecho!

¡Buen Provecho!

Welcome to this blog. Whether you are Venezuelan or not, if you love Latin and Hispanic foods, this blog is for you.

Here you will find information straight from a Venezuelan born food lover, about Venezuelan foods, images of delicious dishes, recipes of Venezuelan foods and most importantly ingredient information including substitutes, translation and where to find them.

Living far away from home has its benefits and drawbacks, and not having the food you grew up with close by is definitely a drawback. Therefore, I will also recommend restaurants and stores where you can find these delicious international flavors right here in the US. Whether you miss them, or you just wish to try something different.

Although Venezuelan food is very unique, you may also find that there are similarities with other Latin American countries’ cuisine. From time to time I will also post information regarding those other countries’ cuisine, because I love all Latin American cuisine. But I will point out to you those similarities and differences as well.

Again, welcome to my blog and I hope you stick around and try some Venezuelan food and recipes.

PS: ¡Buen Provecho! = Bon appétit!