Venezuelan Event Recap: Expo Sentir Venezuela

Expo Sentir Venezuela 2015

Last week I learned from an acquaintance about a Venezuelan event going on last weekend. She was looking to borrow a falda llanera, which is a typical skirt used in the folkloric Joropo dances in Venezuela. I was curious as to why she needed to borrow such a specific item. She said she was attending a Venezuelan event that same weekend, and that I should go to this event as well. I was surprised that I didn’t hear anything about this event prior to my friend mentioning it to me, but I wasn’t surprised that she knew about it, after all, I can always count on her to know all the Venezuelan happenings in South Florida.

My decision to attend the event was kind of a serendipitous series of events, which started last year around July. You see…  I listen to a Venezuelan radio station almost all day long at work.  They are one of the very few stations left that report news that the government attempts to hide from the masses; Radio Caracas Radio. In one of their shows, De Todo Un Poco, they have a section for Venezuelan entrepreneurs and as I listened to them describe the artwork of a young Venezuelan artist, I had to Google him, and I found his online blog. I saw his artwork featuring the Venezuelan flag, and immediately fell in love with it. I even contacted him via twitter to ask where I could get his artwork, but of course, it was only available in Venezuela. A couple of months ago, my grandparents mentioned they would be flying to the US to spend the summer here, I immediately wrote them an e-mail with a few encarguitos, meaning I placed an ‘order’ for a few Venezuelan products that they usually bring to our entire family from Venezuela, to Miami. Within my order I asked if they could find this artist and his artwork, because I wanted to own an illustration for my home. Fast-forward to last week, I went to this event’s website, after hearing about it, and realized that the artwork they used for their mascot, was something I recognized immediately as a piece by that same Venezuelan artist.  As it turns out, he created that piece specifically for the event mascot; Chamo.  I immediately contacted the artist again via twitter, and asked if by any chance he was planning to attend the event, and if I would be able to purchase one of his pieces there, and he replied immediately that he was in fact attending the event, and he would have his own booth there, with all of his pieces available for purchasing and even a few other surprises. Of course, right then and there, I decided couldn’t miss it.

Expo Sentir Venezuela 2015 Mascot

The event was called Sentir Venezuela, or Expo Sentir Venezuela, which translates into Feel Venezuela, or Expo Feel Venezuela. The event took place at the Miami Airport Convention Center from Friday, April 24^th in the afternoon through Sunday April 26^th. Since this was a last minute weekend plan, we decided to attend on Sunday. Although, if they have this event again, I would most likely plan to attend during Saturday, since it seems that was the busiest day, with the most surprises and presentations. The tickets were $10 if you bought them online, or $12 if you bought them there. It was advertised as “A unique and vivacious event celebrating the eternal Venezuela, the Great Nation that Simon Bolivar dreamed of; one of brotherhood, pride, and beauty. Let’s celebrate its music and its joy, it’s unique cuisine and folklore, its wonderful artistic expressions. Let’s celebrate together with “el Bravo Pueblo!” LET’S SENTIR VENEZUELA!”.

They had a variety of vendors including artwork, paintings, sculptures, photography, crafts, food samples, prepared foods, pastries, arepas, bread, cakes, shaved ice, tequeños, cheeses, all kinds of different Venezuelan brands products like harina p.a.n., nucita, chocolate de leche, flips, granadina garlin, susy, samba, pepito, leche la campiña, as well as companies such as banks, insurance providers, realtors, printers, local Venezuelan TV channels, radio stations, newspapers, associations, and groups, not to mention Venezuelan flags on EVERYTHING like pins, bows, scarves, bracelets, necklaces, rings, shoes, shirts, pants, even shirt sleeves… Overall they had an incredible wide array of products unique to Venezuelan culture. They also highlighted a stage with live music and entertainment featuring several Venezuelan artists and bands, and a dance team showcasing the best of Venezuelan folklore, as well as special entertainment and activities for kids.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day in Miami, but I was glad to know the event was indoors, since it was way too hot to be outside. We arrived at the Miami Airport Convention Center about half an hour after the event had opened its doors for their last day. It was not crowded at all… as my hubby pointed out; true Venezuelans would arrive way latter during the day, in true Venezuelan fashion. I wanted to be there early, because it was already the last day of the expo and I wanted to make sure to get an illustration from the Venezuelan artist I mentioned earlier. As we walked into the event itself, we stepped onto a familiar floor… They had a printed vinyl, sort of red-carpet welcome, but instead of a read carpet it was a replica of the famous floor located inside the Caracas International Airport, which is a very familiar design known to all Venezuelans, designed originally by renowned Venezuelan kinetic and op artist, Carlos Cruz-Diez. Nowadays, there is a famous and sad tradition of Venezuelans leaving the country taking photos of their feet on top of the recognizable pattern on the floor, saying goodbye to their home country. That day though, it had a different meaning; it was welcoming us to feel Venezuela, and it did feel for a second, as I looked down, as if I was actually arriving at the Caracas International Airport in Venezuela.

Welcome To Expo Sentir Venezuela

We started by saying hello to my acquaintance and her family at their booth, the Zerpa’s Antojos Criollos booth and one of the top booths in the entire event. El Sr. Zerpa (as you may recall from my previous post) is known throughout the Venezuelan community in South Florida, as el señor de los quesos. His company sells the absolute best Venezuelan cheeses around. Not only do they sell Venezuelan cheeses like Queso Guayanés, Queso de Mano, Queso Telita, Queso Duro Tipo Llanero, and Nata Criolla, retail and wholesale, but they also sell prepared and frozen food items and products for you to make and enjoy at home like Cachapas, Bollitos, Cachapas en Hoja, Hallaquitas, Tequeños, Empanadas, Pastelitos, Cachitos, Pandebono, Churros, Colombian Empanadas, Pan de Jamón, Hallacas, Punta Trasera, Guasacaca, Huevos de Codorniz, Frescolita, Malta Polar, Chinotto, Papelón con Limón, Salsa Verde, Ají Dulce, Dulce De Lechosa, Flan, Jalea de Mango, and much more. Their booth was quite large and beautifully decorated in a cow skin pattern, to match their logo mascot, Mariposa the cow, a cardboard cutout of a cow with barn-like fence over it; very clever considering their main selling product is cheese. They had a table showcasing their products, and samples of their delicious cheeses. They also had a new addition to their product line, Granadina Carlin, which I had been looking for, for a long time. Of course I got myself a bottle, and I promise an exciting drink recipe to come soon. I sampled their Queso Guayanés and it was to die for. They also have other Venezuelan brands products for purchasing like Harina P.A.N., Toddy, Samba, Ovomaltina, Toronto, Susy, Nucita, Chocolate Carré, Pirulín and Nestea. They were also featuring these new types of Tequeños, called MaizQuesitos, which are tequeños, but made with corn dough. Here is their contact information:

Phone Number: 305.456.3571 | 954.652.1058 | 754.234.4855
Website: http://antojoscriollos.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zerpasAntojosCriollos
Instagram: https://instagram.com/antojoscriollos/
Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/zerpas-antojos-criollos-sweetwater
Urbanspoon: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/12/1655495/restaurant/Miami/Doral-Miami-Springs/Zerpas-Antojos-Criollos-Doral

Zerpa’s Antojos Criollos

Zerpa’s Antojos Criollos

Zerpa’s Antojos Criollos

The next thing we did was have breakfast. I had purposefully left home without eating anything so I could have enough space for breakfast and all the delicious samples they had. We had breakfast at the Don Pan Bakery Booth. Don Pan International Pan is a very well known Venezuelan bakery and café, which actually started in Venezuela, and now they have several locations all over South Florida, Dominican Republic and Panamá. The closest one to where I live is the one in Sunrise, right outside the Sawgrass Mall. I had a cachito de jamón and a delicious café con leche, my sister had a cachito de jamón y queso and an empanada de jamón y queso, my hubby had an empanada de carne and an empanada de jamón y queso, and my friend Ann had something I had never seen or heard of before. It was a pastry filled with cream-cheese and it had sugar on top. We also took a Pan Andino to go and ate it at home the next day with café con leche and it was very good.  Here is don pan’s info:

Website: http://www.donpan.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DonPanBakery
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonPanBakery
Instagram: https://instagram.com/donpanbakery

After we ate and had a little bit more energy, we started to walk around the expo and checked out all the different booths. We tried some samples at the shaved ice booth, I had the passion fruit flavor, and my hubby, sister and friend had the coconut flavor. They were good. We also saw a lot of different companies promoting their businesses. Companies like the Venezuelan Business Club, BienvenidosVenezolanos.com, PaVenezolanos, a couple of realtors, immigration lawyers, etc.

We finally arrived at the artist’s booth, Oscar Olivares’ booth. He was there tending to a lot of customers with the help of his mother, Maribel Matos. His booth was a colorful one, filled with the Venezuelan flag design spread out on prints, canvases, tote bags, coin purses, caricatures, and much more. I introduced myself and told him how I was practically stalking him on twitter ever since I heard his interview on the radio last year, and I was so exited to finally meet him and have the opportunity to purchase one of his illustrations. He is so humble and modest, and he is very young.

Oscar is just 19 years old. He was born in Caracas, and began drawing at age 6, but it wasn’t until he was 15 that LaVinotinto.com hired him as the first-ever official illustrator for the national Venezuelan soccer team. His artwork depicted the love of the fans for the team and the game, focusing on the stands as the main subject for his illustrations. He participated in the Caracas Comic Con as a caricaturist in 2013. He is a self-taught artist, since ever since he was little, he did not enjoy being told what to draw, but he would rather draw whatever he was inspired to draw. In 2014 he was inspired, and he was inspired by all the political and sociological tumultuous evens in our country, to bring hope, unity and concisions to society by way of his illustrations. This is when he created his series of art with the Venezuelan flag and the concept of the arepa as the sun (Arte con la Bandera de Venezuela y el concepto del Sol como Arepa).

When I first saw his illustrations with the Venezuelan flag, I was very impressed. I am a graphic designer by profession, and I have to combine colors every day that I don’t necessarily find appealing. Most of the times I dislike combinations of primary colors such as red and blue, because it is hard to read and the two colors so close to each other cause visual vibration and afterimage effects. Generally, I would not pick the colors of our Venezuelan flag for any design, and I would most likely dislike any design that would use the primary colors. However, Oscar’s art made me love my flag colors all over again. His use of the colors is so cleverly done, that the visual vibration and afterimage effect is inexistent. He uses abstract shapes in different shades of each primary color to create depth and uses white and black to highlight the shapes of other elements in his illustrations. But perhaps the most interesting thing about his illustrations is the concept behind them. The elements of our Venezuelan culture that make us who we are, and the recognizable symbols and pop culture humor that is truly representative of Venezuelans.

Oscar Olivares, Venezuelan Artist @ Expo Sentir Venezuela 2015

I asked Oscar about the meaning of the arepa as the sun, and he sees the arepa as a common element between all Venezuelans, those with the government (red) and the opposition (blue). The arepa is not just literally something that unites all Venezuelans, since it is our staple food, but he sees it as the common ground; the light. The light that could bring together both sides of our divided country, not literally the arepa, but as a representation of something we all have in common. If we can find common ground in the fact that all Venezuelans love arepas, we can find common ground in other matters as well.

I asked him about finding the necessary materials to continue his work in Venezuela, since I know those kinds of imported products like paints, brushes, paper and canvas must be hard to find in a Venezuela where medicine, food and even toilet paper is also hard to find. He explained that the scarcity of such products was one of the reasons he started creating art digitally by composing illustrations by hand first, scanning it, and filling in the colors with computer software such as Photoshop. Unfortunately for him, he said some art galleries are not receptive to digital art and it makes it harder for him to get exposure that way.

After finally making a decision I purchased a print of the art with the Venezuelan flag, which he explained was the very first piece he created in that series. I also purchased a piece of the arepa surrounded by the red and the blue, because I really enjoyed his explanation of the importance of the arepa as a symbol of unity. And we also purchased a tote bag illustrated with one of the pieces of the art with the Venezuelan flag collection. He even gave us a free Venezuelan chocolate for purchasing 2 pieces. Here is Oscar Olivares’ info:

Website/Blog: http://soyeljugadornumero12.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/olivarescfc
Instagram: https://instagram.com/olivarescfc

Oscar Olivares Venezuelan Artist at Expo Sentir Venezuela 2015. “Araguaney y fase lunar”

Oscar Olivares Venezuelan Artist at Expo Sentir Venezuela 2015. “Unidad”

We continued on with the rest of the expo. We saw more artwork being displayed and we saw the artwork of Gerardo Fernández, a Venezuelan artist that creates these beautiful sculptures called escaladores or the acrobats, which I had seen previously at a high-end store where I purchased a rug for my living room before. His artwork was being sold by a store specifically dedicated to sell artwork by Venezuelan artist, Samán Arte. We also saw some beautiful bows and headwear for girls by the talented Lucky Cat Headwear. They were some beautifully decorated ones with the Venezuelan flag, and also the Venezuelan soccer team color (vinotinto – wine color), some incredible ones with the American flag, and some very cute ones of all the Disney princesses. We also saw a beautiful cake design by One Million Cakes Design Factory.

Gerardo Fernández’ acrobats, sold by Samán Arte

Lucky Cat Headwear

Lucky Cat Headwear

One Million Cakes Design Factory

Then we stumbled upon a stand I know my mom would have loved. My mom and dad used to go some weekends to a special place in Caracas just to stop and get a Cocada. A Cocada is a coconut drink made with fresh coconut, milk, sugar, ice and optional condensed milk and cinnamon. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before or not, but I have an absurd hatred towards coconut. Initially as a kid, I merely disliked anything that smelled like coconut, and I concluded that if I didn’t like the smell, I would most likely not like the taste. As a teenager, I thought I would grow out of this absurd hatred and decided to give coconut a try, since my mom was making bienmesabe and she had fresh grated coconut laying around in the kitchen. I took a pinch of it, placed it on my tongue and immediately spit it out, became nauseous and almost sick to my stomach. I never tried it again, or ate anything with coconut. However, my sister, my husband and my friend Ann took a free sample from the cute friends at La Caracola Cocada, and they said that it was absolutely delicious and refreshing. My sister even went as far as to say that it was better than the one she had with our dad back at that same place my mom and dad used to go to in Caracas.

La Caracola Cocada

We kept going and found ourselves in front of La Reina Del Golfeado’ booth. A Venezuelan delicacy I had completely forgotten about, right there in front of me. We had to buy one. We were so full by all these samples, we only needed one, and split it four ways, but usually I would’ve eaten one all by myself. A golfeado is a breadlike pastry/dessert that is rolled in a spiral shape, they are soft and caramelized with sugarcane and anise seeds, so it smells and tastes a bit like licorice. Served with a delicious slice of queso de mano. It was to die for.

Overall, I was glad that my acquaintance and the Venezuelan artist inspired me to attend this event.  I enjoyed spending time with my family and friends, surrounded by the familiarity of my country, the culture, the music, the food and the colors.  The only thing I must say, is that the event organizers should have marketed the event a bit more, and perhaps attempt to respond to inquiries from the attendees.  It is wrong of me to think that I could possibly transcribe to you the entire list of vendors, artist, food, celebrity, and bands that encompassed the entire event. So all I can say is that if you want to Sentir Venezuela, you must definitely attend this even next time.  So, here is the info for the event:

Phone Number: 786.447.7793
E-mail: info@sentirvenezuela.com
Website: http://www.sentirvenezuela.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sentirvenezuelaevent
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SVenezuela1
Instagram: https://instagram.com/sentirvenezuela/

Venezuelan Restaurant Review: Doggi’s Venezuelan Cuisine

A while back, while I still lived in Montgomery, Alabama, I had created a foursquare list for myself of all the Venezuelan Restaurants in South Florida that I wanted to try out and write reviews for, once I moved back down to Florida.  In that list, I had included Doggi’s.  When I finally moved back down here, I was a bit upset with myself because I was too busy with work and I realized most of the Venezuelan Restaurants on the list are in Miami and Doral, and I lived in Hollywood.  I rarely drove down to Miami and I rarely had a chance to try out all these places.  I was lucky to find Eats Good 33 (read the review here), but I was unable to enjoy their delicious food because they are only open when I am at work.

Things have changed a bit around here.  I moved to Plantation (even further away from all the good Venezuelan Restaurants), and now my commute is longer, giving me less time to try out new Venezuelan places and write recipes of my own for the blog.  However, my husband has been driving around all over South Florida due to his new job, and he has been keeping an eye out for new Venezuelan places to try out.  Since he drives to Miami all the time, it doesn’t seem that far away to him, and one weekend he suggested to take my sister and I down to the Wynwood Arts District in Miami.

Wynwood Art District Miami

It was kind of a “spur of the moment” plan for that weekend, so we really didn’t make any plans for lunch or anything.  After enjoying a nice walk, taking a few photos, and taking in all the artwork on the walls, we were kind of hungry.  My husband suggested finding the nearest Venezuelan Restaurant and going there for a late lunch (around 3 pm).  He found Doggi’s first, and I immediately remembered it was on my list of places to try.  So we headed over there.

Wynwood Art District Miami

On our way there, driving on Coral Way, my sister commented that the drive felt much like driving around Las Mercedes, in Caracas (Venezuela).  The bit of traffic, the trees, the road… something about it reminded her of Las Mercedes, and I agreed.  We were very lucky to find a parking stop right in front, but that is not the norm, so if you aren’t as lucky, you can park on the other side of the building.  There is an Italian Restaurant/Bakery on this corner building and a couple other businesses to the side.  Walking towards Doggi’s, you can appreciate the love and detail poured into every single detail in this place.  There are a couple metal tables and chairs on the outside, much like I remember a certain ice cream shop in Las Mercedes in Caracas.  The door is bright red and has a black wrought iron door in front of it, very much like almost every home in Venezuela.  You usually have your wrought iron ‘gate’ and then your wooden door – very nice touch.  Once in it feels a bit tight, and there are only about 10 small tables or less.  It is small and tight, but I think it makes it homey and cozy.  We were also lucky to get one of the only three tables by the window, so that was great.  The inside is beautifully decorated with a ton of Venezuelan… things.  I don’t really know how to explain these things; they are juts typical Venezuelan things that you would see on the walls of your grandmother’s house.  Things like a cuatro, maracas, cast irons, and virgins.  On another wall there are countless posters, ads, and logos of all kinds of different Venezuelan brands, sports teams, celebrities, etc.  They also have a large projector, which wasn’t turned on, but I can only assume they play all the soccer games when they are on.  On that wall they also have very stylized drawings of a male and a female figure dressed in typical Venezuelan folkloric costumes.  My poor description of the decor doesn’t really do it much justice, since it sounds crazy and cluttered, but it was actually done in a very minimalistic, simplistic and trendy manner.  They also have a smaller TV Screen that displays the current song being played.  My husband pointed out that he was shocked that they were not playing loud Spanish music like in most Venezuelan Restaurants we have been to.  They had a pop channel, and it was at a perfect volume level, in which you can still talk to the person next to you without having to scream like you are at a club.  The tables also have a trendy word-cloud or word collage of cool and unusual Venezuelan slang words.  The entire place’s decoration and design is very trendy and up-to-date, but also filled with old Venezuelan traditions and ‘things’.

Doggi’s Venezuelan Cuisine Decor

Doggi’s Venezuelan Cuisine Decor

Doggi’s Venezuelan Cuisine Decor

Doggi’s Venezuelan Cuisine Decor

Doggi’s Venezuelan Cuisine Decor

As soon as we sat down our kind server Gabriela greeted us promptly.  We read trough the short but complete menu and we were definitely unsure of what to order.  Everything sounded delicious, so it was hard to make a decision.  We decided to have an order of Tequeños as an appetizer.  They are served in these cute little baskets and they are five small tequeños, but perfect for an appetizer, since you don’t want to be filled up before your meal gets to the table.  As soon as I tried one I knew they had it right… the cheese that is.  Usually, most Venezuelan places make tequeños with mozzarella, or whatever other white cheese they can find.  At Doggi’s they have the right kind of cheese, simple white cheese is what we call it, but it is far from it.  It is perfectly salty enough and melts just right inside the tequeños.  I had to order a café con leche, since it was very cold outside (for me at least), my hubby ordered the pineapple juice and he wouldn’t stop taking about how good it was, he said it was the freshest pineapple juice he’d ever tried, and then he realized it had fresh chunks of pineapple in it, and he liked it even more.

Tequeños

After giving it a lot of thought, I ordered the Arepa Santa Bárbara, which is an arepa with marinated churrasco (beef), tomato, avocado and I switched the organic white shredded cheese for queso de mano.  My sister ordered the Arepa Pabellón, which is an arepa with shredded beef, fried plantain, black beans and organic white cheese.  My husband ordered the Milanesa Steak, which is a thin flank steak breaded and fried, with fried yucca and plantains on the side.  My arepa Santa Barbara was delicious.  The arepa itself was not too big that you can’t even hold it, and not too small that it can’t contain all the stuff inside.  The size was just right.  The texture was just right too, not too soft, and not too hard, and just the right thickness as well.  When I had the first bite with some churrasco beef, I was immediately taken back to Sunday nights at my grandparents’ house when my dad used to make parrillas.  The beef was perfectly marinated and cooked, juicy and tender, exactly the way my dad used to make it.  It’s cut in bite size cubes so it is easy to eat inside the arepa.  Combine that juicy beef with avocado, tomato and cheese, and you create my new favorite arepa.  My sister’s arepa de pabellón was delicious, too.  The beef was seasoned just right and the plantains were ripe and sweet.  My hubby absolutely loved his milanesa steak, so much so, that he ate the entire thing, which he usually doesn’t.  He compared it to my mom’s milanesa, which is a huge compliment, since he once ate 3 servings of it in one sitting.  Surprisingly, we still had some room, so we ordered desert.  We ordered the churros with dulce de leche on top, I think the order usually brings 5 churros but we got 6.  They were pretty darn good.

Arepa Santa Bárbara

Milanesa de Carne

Churros

Overall we all enjoyed the food, the ambiance, the décor and the music.  So much so, that we went back two weeks later for more.  We went there specifically, not just because we were down in Miami.  It’s about a 40 minute drive from where I currently live, but it is worth it.  We went down there on Valentines Day for an early dinner around 5:30 pm.  I called on our way there to reserve a table, because I thought it might be busy, I’m glad I did.  This time around we ordered arepitas dulces as an appetizer.  They are served with white cheese and nata.  They were delicious.  Not exactly the same as the ones I am used to, large and with a crispy thin crust.  However, they were still delicious, perfectly sweet and complemented by the right white cheese.  They where small and thick, and had just the right amount of anise.  I ordered the asado negro, which is marinated eye round cooked with brown sugar, green peppers and onions, served with rice and plantains.  The asado was incredible, it was just like my grandmother makes it, and I loved the addition of fresh cilantro on top, which balanced the sweetness of the beef and the plantains.  The plantains were served with white cheese and nata on top, which is a great extra.  The rice is the only thing I was not super excited about.  In my opinion, everything at Doggies has an extra something, but the rice doesn’t.  This time it was a bit undercooked and I think the type of rice is not what Venezuelans are used to.  True white Venezuelan rice is flavored with onions and bell peppers and then they are taken out.  Also this rice type seemed thin and small, like Basmati rice.  Whereas Venezuelan rice is more like medium grain rice that is not long and not short, and it’s a bit fatter.  I appreciate trying to go for a fancier type of rice, but it was the only thing on my plate that didn’t bring back memories of eating asado negro at my grandmother’s house in Venezuela.  Just to be fair, my sister disagreed and said the rice was fine.  She ordered a cachapa, which is a traditional corn pancake semi-sweet, served with queso de mano inside and topped with nata and white cheese, and she asked to add chicken to it.  I do not like cachapas so I did not try it.  My sister said it tasted just like the ones sold in Venezuela, and actually better, because it was less sweet, like not overwhelmingly sweet.  My husband loved the milanesa so much the first time, that he had them again, even though we had all agreed to try something different.  We were very satisfied after appetizers and meals, so we didn’t want any desert.  However, we did take a can of Pirulín home, it’s great that they have Venezuelan snacks, I sure miss those.  They also have Venezuelan beer brands and malta.

Arepitas Dulces

Asado Negro

Cachapa

We like Doggi’s so much, we had to go yet again two weeks after that.  We simply wanted to eat there again, so we took the drive down there, simply because we were craving some really good Venezuelan food.  This time we ordered cazón and cheese empanadas, and grilled chorizo as appetizers.  The empanadas were medium sized so if you order these as appetizers, don’t order such a big meal, maybe an arepa.  The cazón was delicious and very well seasoned and filled with herbs and veggies that made it even better.  The cheese empanada was great, because it’s the right cheese.  The chorizo, even though I don’t usually care for it, it was very tasty, just like my dad used to make it on the grill at my grandparent’s house on Sundays.  I ordered the Pabellón Criollo as the main entry, which is the most traditional national Venezuelan dish.  It came with white rice, black beans, fried plantains, and shredded beef.  The beef was well seasoned and juicy.  The black beans were cooked well and they weren’t too watery.  My sister did point out that the black beans had white cheese on top, which is how I like them, but she said some people eat them with sugar instead, so she would ask for them to be sweetened before putting the cheese on top.  The plantains were perfect as usual with white cheese on top.  The rice, again was simple, there was nothing great about it, this time it wasn’t undercooked though.  My husband ordered the marinated churrasco, which is grilled steak with fried yucca and fries; he also ordered a side of plantains.  The beef (as before with the arepa santa Barbara) was seasoned and cooked to perfection.  And the yucca fries are delicious with the guasacaca sauces on the table.  My sister ordered the Doggi’s parrilla for one, which includes marinated churrasco, chicken and chorizo, with yucca fries.  All the protein was cooked and marinated to perfection.  We both agreed that it reminded us of my dad’s parrilla on Sundays at our grandparents’ house.  All of our plates were on the larger side, so we all had “doggibags” to go, and we all had the food the next day for lunch and we were surprised to see that it still was pretty tasty and somewhat fresh after re-heating it in the microwave.

Pabellón Criollo

Doggi’s Parrilla

Marinated Churrasco

Overall I must say, if you want to experience true Venezuelan flavors, traditions, customs and ambiance, then visit Doggi’s.  What I love about it is that even though the menu seems small, you have a little bit of everything and not only do you have the typical Venezuelan dishes, but also dishes that families in Venezuela eat on a daily basis.  The servers are friendly, and you can tell that the owners are on top of their game and involved, which makes the place and the food, the best.  As I learned on my first visit, from Gabriela, Doggi’s started as a gentleman selling hotdogs from a cart in Miami, hence the name Doggi’s.  Then the gentleman, his wife and three kids opened up the restaurant down the street from where it is now.  Now, the three brothers run the place, and I even saw the mother there.  This truly makes all the difference in a place, because you can tell they put thought and care into every detail and they run an airtight family business.  The place is clean, and the service is fast.  I enjoy that they serve you with real plates and forks, it has a restaurant feel, but it is small and cozy like a fast food place, and they ARE fast. They deliver nearby and they also have take-out. You will get a true Venezuelan experience and you wont be disappointed.

The Details:
Address: 1246 SW Coral Way Miami, FL 33145
Phone Number: 305.854.6869
Website: http://www.eatdoggis.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoggisAndMore
Twitter: https://twitter.com/doggismore
Instagram: https://instagram.com/doggis
Hours: Mon – Wed: 10:00 am – 11:00 pm
Thu: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Fri – Sat: 10:00 am – 1:00 am
Sun: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Menu: http://www.letseat.at/doggis/menu
Categories: Venezuelan
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Recipe: Crema de Auyama | Venezuelan Cream of Squash Calabaza (Soup)

By now you must know how much I love soups and creams. I have given you the Apio Soup and the chicken soup recipes so far, but there are plenty more Venezuelan soup and cream recipes to come. Today I want to share with you another very popular Venezuelan creamy soup, the Crema de Auyama. The Auyama, pronounced awˈʝa.ma, is technically a fruit because it contains the seeds of the plant inside. However, most people consider it a vegetable. It most resembles the squash and pumpkin types. In Venezuela it is used in most soup preparations like Sancochos and it is also used on its own to create this cream. However, it is also used to create sweet recipes such as bread and cakes.

The Auyama is easy to cultivate and therefore it is sold in large quantities and at a cheaper price than other vegetables. It is rich in potassium, calcium, vitamin A, and fiber. It is also low in calories because it is mostly made out of water, but it is very tasty. It is believed that because it was easily cultivated, Europeans used it as fodder to feed their animals. Each plant can bear up to 8 fruits and it only takes 140 days to harvest. In Venezuela it is available all year long. However, the Auyama harvested in summer has a sandy-textured pulp and it works best for pasta fillings or cakes. On the other hand, the Auyama harvested in winter is the one that is best for creams and soups, because the pulp is more fibrous and pale, and it has more water content.

Here in the US, the type of pumpkin or squash that I believe to be the closest to the authentic Venezuelan Auyama is sold as Squash Calabaza. I have bought it at Publix and Sedano’s in big chunks (they cut it and sell each individual piece in cling wrap), I have also bought one at Wal-Mart sold as a whole (the whole Calabaza), but I think the ones that come cut in chunks are the ones that most resemble the Auyama taste. The Venezuelan Auyama belongs to the Curcubitaceae family, and the curcubita genre, in the varieties called máxima, moschata, mixta and pepo. Its size is large and it comes in different shapes and sizes, with skin that varies from green to yellow to orange, it can be either smooth or corrugated, and the pulp varies from pale yellow to bright yellow-orange. The taste also varies from very sweet to not so sweet. This is probably why it has been hard for me to find one that truly matches the Venezuelan Auyama taste.

This particular recipe is my sister’s very own recipe, so it is not a traditional recipe, but it is very close to it. My sister, Mariale Ojeda, a.k.a. The Soup Queen as we call her around here, is an expert at making delicious soups for me, the soup lover. This post was created by her, the recipe, the cooking and the photos are all hers. I have to say special thanks to her for all the soups she has been cooking for us lately and for this amazing recipe and post she created as a featured writer of Venezuelan Cooking.

Ingredients for Crema De Auyama

What you need:
– 4 lbs. Auyama (Squash Calabaza)
– 6½ Cups Chicken Broth or Chicken Bouillon (enough to cover all the Auyama)
– 5 to 8 Stems of Cilantro
– 1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
– ½ Chopped Onion
– 1/3 Sliced Bell Pepper
– ½ Stem Sliced Leek

Preparation:
1. Peel the Auyama and remove the seeds. Cut it in big chunks.

Cut The Auyama In Big Chunks

2. Place the chunks of Auyama in a large enough pot. Cover entirely with the chicken broth or chicken bouillon (1 bouillon cube per cup of water).

Cover With Chicken Broth\

3. Boil the Auyama at medium to high heat for about 13 minutes.
4. Add the cilantro and continue to boil for another 7 minutes.

Add Cilantro

5. Stir occasionally and remove accumulated foam from the top.
6. Meanwhile, cut the rest of the vegetables and heat up a pan with a little bit of olive oil.
7. Toss the veggies in the pan and sauté until brown, then set aside.

Sauté Veggies. Set Aside.

8. After about 20 minutes of boiling, test the Auyama by taking out a large piece and try to mash it with a fork, as if making mashed potatoes. If you can do this easily, then it’s done.

Test if the auyama is done

9. Add the sautéed vegetables to the Auyama pot, stir and remove pot from the heat. Let it cool down.

Add veggies to auyama

10. Once it has cooled down, grab all the solid pieces and place them in a blender or food processor.

Blend

11. Blend together and gradually add as much of the liquid remaining on the pot as necessary, to reach the right creamy consistency. What you are looking for is a creamy soup consistency.

Creamy consistency

12. Serve hot with your favorite garnish and topping, like my sister and I do. Some of our favorite toppings include Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, avocado, rice, croutons and cassava bread.

Crema de Auyama | Venezuelan Cream of Squash Calabaza (Soup)

Note: You can make a big batch of this Squash Calabaza creamy soup and store it in the fridge for a couple of days, or you can store it in the freezer for up to a month. Reheat on the stove and not on the microwave for better results.

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Hallacas Venezolanas | Venezuelan Christmas Dinner Hallacas

I am truly exited to be able to share this recipe with my readers and followers. As a kid I was sometimes involved in the making of hallacas during Christmas in Venezuela, but with very little responsibility; something like handing over a piece of yarn, or a spoon. Finally, eleven years after moving to the US, I can say that I have truly been involved in, and enjoyed the hallaca making experience. If you haven’t read my previous post regarding Venezuelan Christmas traditions, you can take a look here, to understand the full scope of a traditional Venezuelan Christmas Dinner, celebrations, traditions and dishes, but for this post I am going to limit myself to only explaining the hallacas.
This past year (2014), my paternal grandparents came to spend Christmas here in Florida with the rest of my paternal family, which they usually do every year. However, this year was extra special because they didn’t come alone, they invited my great-grandmother (my paternal grandfather’s mother) to join us. My great-grandmother, la señora Nery Ruso (98), is my true role model and a great inspiration as a woman. From a very young age she was dedicated to working, studying, raising her children, and it paid off in a life filled with accolades, awards, medals, and the highest honors as an entrepreneur, writer, business owner, a true influential character in the Venezuelan society. Writing for the most important newspapers in the country, socializing with several presidents and their wives, marrying internationally recognized painters, founding recognized magazines and pageants. A true inspirational woman who worked hard to position herself into spots once only held by highly educated men.
As I was sitting there ready to learn how to make the traditional hallacas from my great-grandmother, my grandmother and my aunt, I asked my great-grandma, who we all call Bila (A nickname my dad gave her when he was a kid), if she knew where and how did the hallacas come from. Bila said the story she knows is the one I wrote on my previous post about Venezuelan Christmas. But the way she described it to me was even better. She said a long time ago there were the very rich families with European descendants and they used to have these giant parties with all kinds of dishes that their maids would prepare for them. At the end of the parties, the maids would clean up the tables and think what a waste to throw away such expensive ingredients like olives, capers, steaks, pork, chicken, and raisins. So the maids would chop up all the ingredients and make them into a stew, and since the corn dough was cheap they used that to make the outer envelope for the stew. She said eventually the rich people would come to try these inventions and they became what we know today as the hallaca.
The hallaca/hayaca (pronounced Ah-jac-kah) is an original traditional Venezuelan dish that we only consume during the month of December and during Christmas and it is the number one most important component for a true Venezuelan Christmas Dinner. The hallaca brings our families together even for the preparation, which can take up to 3 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. This year I was very fortunate to have these three women teach my sister and me how to make the hallacas. We made them over two days in the afternoons (because of my busy work schedule), at my aunt’s house, in the middle of her moving overseas. It was definitely a crazy experience, but all the fun we had and all the tips I learned were worth it. I felt blessed that there were three generations of experts each giving me their own tips and advice, at the end I was very tired, but the experience couldn’t have been any better and definitely worth it. Each person has their own way of making hallacas, each family has their own secret ingredient or traditions passed down from generation to generation, and techniques that are also improved upon generation to generation. For example, the flattening of the dough was and still is usually done by hand pressing with your fingers, but my aunt has a beautiful tortilla press (tortillera), which she bought in Mexico that she uses for hallaca making, and it makes it a lot faster and easier. Even tying the yarn can be a subject of debate. The funny part is my great-grandmother would want to teach me how to do it her way, my grandmother would want to teach me how to do it her way, and my aunt had her own way of doing it, which was different that both their ways. After taking in all that knowledge from those three generations I think I am confident in making hallacas on my own next year and sharing all this knowledge with you so you can also make them at home this year, or next year.  Each family and each region in the country has their own recipe and their own way of making the hallacas, but the process is basically the same.

A Few Tips Before We Begin
This is basically a summary of all I learned while making hallacas with my great-grandmother, my grandmother and my aunt.
a) The entire process is time consuming and it takes a toll on you physically. Be sure to set aside at least two entire days for making hallacas, and enlist the help of a couple of friends or family members. However, as my great-grandmother said… “Muchas manos en la olla ponen el caldo morado” – Too many hands on the pot, make the broth turn purple.
b) You will need a large area for the ‘assembly line’. You can use your dining table if you have a large enough one, but be sure to cover it either with newspaper, a tablecloth you don’t care about damaging, a plastic table cloth, or some other protective surface. Be sure you don’t have a carpet or rug you don’t wish to damage or stain either.
c) On that note, come prepared with a change of clothes that you don’t mind staining, or aprons…and some hairnets, or if you want to be cute and fancy like us, you can wear bandanas. You just want to make sure that hair doesn’t become an ingredient.
d) Be sure one of your helpers is the person in charge of cleaning up. You don’t want to wait until the end of the night when you are tired and have a mountain of dishes to wash. Be sure your helper is washing everything as you go, because sometimes you might need to use the same tool twice.
e) Be sure to gather all the tools and ingredients necessary at least a day before you begin, so you don’t have to send someone out to get them and loose a pair of helping hands. Also be sure the tools are nice and clean and ready to be used.
f) Be sure to empty out your fridge because you will need a lot of space to store the hallacas when ready. And also be sure you don’t make the hallacas way to far in advanced, otherwise you will have to freeze them, and they are better when they are not frozen. The weekend before Christmas is good enough.
g) Kitchen Tools. There are a few kitchen tools that would make your job a lot easier. You don’t have to buy the expensive brands, and you may even be able to borrow some of these from someone else. A tortilla press or tortillera is not something you would probably have in your home, but there are a few cheap wooden ones you can get online, like the ones from the IMUSA brand. They have a round cast iron one for $20 at Bed Bath and Beyond, but I am not sure if those are large enough. You are better off with a large rectangular one, which you can buy online from a Mexican store, on etsy or ebay. You could also make your own as shown here… or you could just use your hands or a rolling pin, or even a large heavy Pyrex baking pan. You will also need several cutting boards, sharp knives and keep your knife sharpener handy, several bowls and Tupperware containers to keep all the ingredients you have to chop beforehand, large stew pots and large pans, several clean wash cloths and scissors, extra large bowls for mixing the dough and keeping the stew, strainers, latex gloves, measuring cups, and measuring spoons.

What you need for 50 Hallacas:
Guiso | Stew (Filling):
– 5.5 lbs. Sirloin Tip Roast
– 3.5 lbs. Chicken Breast With Rib (No Skin)
– 2.5 lbs. Rib End Boneless Pork Roast
– 1 lb. Bacon
– 5 Lemons Cut In Half
– 1 Cup Vegetable Oil
– 6 Cups Chopped Onions
– 4 Cups Chopped Leeks
– 2 Cups Chopped Green Onions
– 3¼ Cups Minced Garlic
– ½ Cup Capers in ½ Cup Chicken Broth
– 2.5 lbs Red Bell Pepper, Grated without skin or seeds
– 5 Cups grated Tomatoes (No Skin or Seeds)
– 4 Chopped Sweet Peppers (Ají Dulce)
– 1 Cup White Wine
– ½ lb. Papelón Rallado (Grated shredded sugar cane blocks available in Latin stores)
– 1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
– 2 Teaspoons Paprika
– 5 Tablespoons Salt
– ½ Teaspoon Mustard
– 2 Cups Chicken Broth
Masa | Dough:
– 9 lbs. Harina P.A.N.
– 4½ Cups Chicken Broth
– 17 Cups Water
– 5 Cups Oil
– 6 Tablespoons Annatto Seeds
Adornos | Garnish:
– 1 lb. Bacon (Same one that was cooked with the pork cut in long slices)
– 2 lb. Red Bell Peppers (Cut in long slices without skin or seeds)
– ½ lb. Sliced Almonds
– 1 lb. Medium Onions, cut in long rings or long slices
– ½ lb. Small Drained Capers
– 1 lb. Medium Pitted Green Olives, Drained
– ½ lb. Raisins
Envoltura | Wrapping:
– 10 lbs. Plaintain Leaves (about 10 bags)
– 2 rolls of Pabilo (Cotton Yarn, Butcher’s String, Kitchen Twine, etc)

Preparation:
DAY ONE
1. The first thing you want to do is prep and clean all the plantain leaves, cut them and separate them by size. As I mentioned before, this recipe can take up to three days in the making and you want all your assembling parts to be ready on the final day. Therefore, you can begin by prepping the plantain leaves on day one. You can even do it before day one, or you can do it while the stew is on the stove. Either way you should do it before you are ready to assemble the hallacas.  Here in the US, it is fairly easy to find plantain leaves. There are a couple of brands that sell plantain leaves in a bag, in the frozen section. They sell them as Hojas de plátano or Banana Leaves, although the real translation should be plantain leaves. They have Goya, La Fe, La Nuestra, El Sembrador, etc. You can buy either one. My aunt bought El Sembrador and La Fe brands. The plantain leaves are really large and they come all folded together inside the bag, and they are pretty cold when you handle them because they are frozen. Its best if you leave them out to thaw a bit before you begin this process, because they will be easier to handle.

Hojas de Plátanos | Plantain Leaves | Banana Leaves

If you look at the leaf, you can tell it has a main vein or central nerve, which is where it is attached to the tree, then a lot of little lines perpendicular to the vein/nerve that go from the nerve to the edge of the leave, lets call them little veins or little nerves. When you are working with the leaf, whether it is cleaning it or cutting it, you should always keep the side where these little veins or little nerves are most visible protruding, side up. And also lay them with those lines going away from you (you would see them vertically) and the line where the main nerve is, or used to be closest to you. Don’t worry I will illustrate all of these complicated terms below for you.

Plantain Leaf Parts

2. First you should open the bags and lay them all opened and flat on a large table. They are supposedly already cleaned, but you should clean them anyways with a wet kitchen towel or cloth. They are easily broken and torn in half so it is better to clean them all first and then proceed to cut the veins and cut them into all the different sizes you will need. Clean the leaves with a wet cloth and then dry them with a dry cloth.
3. Once you have cleaned them and dried them all, you can proceed to cut the vein or central nerve if you will. If you lay the long plantain leaf vertically in front of you, you will notice one side has a thick vein (the side that is most straight). You can proceed to cut the whole vain, which is only about half an inch from the edge.

Cutting the veins of the plantain leaves

4. Once you cut all the veins from all the leaves, you can proceed to classify and cut them into all the different shapes and sizes you will need. You can also proceed to tear apart the pieces, which are already torn, because if they already have a tear, they will eventually tear all the way.
5. The different pieces you will need are:
– La camisa | The Shirt: This is the main piece which is used to directly place the dough on. They can be roughly about 15” x 10” rectangles. You want to pick the best pieces for this category. You want them to be flexible and without any torn edges. These will also be used as the second piece, which goes on top of the shirt to prevent much water to getting into the shirt, which holds the hallacas itself. But this second piece will not be directly in touch with the dough, its just a second cover (I guess we can call it the jacket, lol… just kidding, that is not the official name)
– La Tapa | The Cover: These leaves are a bit smaller than the shirts, they are usually about 8” x 10” rectangles. They are used are a cover or top for the main ones. The more you cover up your hallacas, the less water will get into them.
– The faja | The Belt: These leaves are 3” to 5” wide times whatever width of the original plantain leave. They are used, as their name describes it, simple to hold in the hallacas and all those previous leaves together right before it is ties up with the thread.
*From one good entire plantain leaf you can probably get one or two shirts, a cover and a couple of belts.
*Someone asked me if they could make Venezuelan Hallacas without using the plantain leaves, the answer is no.  As you will understand by the end of this post, the plantain leaves are essential to the making of Venezuelan Hallacas, and they even give the that distinctive smell and taste.
DAY ONE (Continued) OR DAY TWO
Guiso | Stew (Filling):
1. Clean the pork and the chicken rubbing them with the lemon halves and then rinsing thoroughly with enough water.
2. In a large enough stewing pot with hot boiling water, cook the pork and the bacon on medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove from the pot and drain the meats (you can get rid of this liquid). Set the pork aside to cool down so it can be cut into small square pieces of about ½ an inch to ¾ of an inch. Cut the bacon in long strips and reserve it for the adornos | garnish.
3. In the meantime you can begin to chop up, de-skin, de-seed, and grate all the rest of the ingredients for the stew (filling), like the onions, leeks, green onions, garlic (mince it), red bell peppers (grate), tomatoes (grate), sweet peppers, sugar cane (grate), all in small little pieces.

Chopped Onions

Chopped Green Onions

Chopped Ají Dulce | Sweet Peppers

3. In a different pot with enough water, cook the chicken at medium heat until it is thoroughly cooked, but not too long. Remove the chicken from the broth, and drain the broth and let it cool (we will be using it later). Take ½ Cup of this broth and put all the capers in it, save the rest of the broth. Let the chicken cool down and once it is manageable, shred only half of it into long strings of about 2 to 3 inches long.

Chicken Broth & Chicken

Shredding the Chicken

4. In yet another large pot, add the oil and stir-fry at high heat the onions, leeks and green onions for about 5 minutes or until they brown. Add the garlic and the capers along with the chicken broth they have been soaking in, and cook at medium heat for about 15 minutes or until it begins to boil.

Frying the Ingredients

5. Add the bell peppers, tomatoes and sweet peppers and let it cook for 10 more minutes at medium heat.
6. Add the wine, sugar cane, pepper, paprika, salt, mustard, 2 cups of the chicken broth we saved earlier, and cook at medium heat for 15 minutes or until it begins to boil.

Adding the liquids

7. Add the beef and the pork we cooked earlier, cover, and continue to cook at medium heat for 40 minutes.

Adding the Beef

8. Add the half of the chicken you didn’t shred before and continue to cook for 15 more minutes making sure the meats are not disintegrating and they are still in small pieces.
9. Taste the stew and add more salt if necessary.

Add Salt To Taste

10. Remove from the heat and let it cool down. If your stew if too liquid, you can thicken it by adding one tablespoon of Harina P.A.N. dissolved in water. Add as many as necessary to get the right consistency.

The Stew Is Ready

11. You can cut and prep all the garnishes while you are cooking the stew so you have them ready before you begin with the next step.

Garnish : Red Bell Peppers

Garnish : Shredded Chicken

Garnish: Almonds

Garnish: Olives

Garnish: Onions

Garnish: Raisins

DAY TWO OR THREE
Masa | Dough:
1. In a large pan, heat up the oil and the annatto seeds at low heat. This step is the process by which we are tinting the oil to the necessary color we need to give the hallacas its famous color. The annatto seeds are the ones that give this reddish caramel color to the oil, and the oil then turns the dough its bright orange/yellow color. Once the oil is tinted it can be placed in a measuring cup, making sure to drain all the annatto seeds from it first. Let it cool.

Making Annatto Oil

Annatto Oil

2. In a very large bowl, like extra extra large mixing bowl, add the Harina P.A.N. and add one cup of oil and two cups of the colored/tinted annatto oil we just made. Add the chicken broth that we saved, and add the salt and water, and mix in together with both hands until you have a fine and soft dough, that is easily manageable. It is a bit softer than your usual Harina P.A.N. mix for arepas, because it has oil in it.

Making The Dough

Making The Dough

3. You can add more Harina P.A.N. more salt, or more annatto oil to make it just the right consistency or the right color. You can also divide all the ingredients in half and make two batches at a time instead of the whole batch at once.
4. Divide the dough into small little balls the size of a small orange, or two to three inches in diameter.

The Set Up:
1. Now that you have everything you need ready, you need to set up your assembly line in a large enough table. What you will need (in this order) is:
– Plantain Leaves: The Shirts
– The rest of your annatto oil (you should have some left over, but if you don’t you can make some more, following the steps above, it’s pretty easy)
– The dough
– The Stew
– All the garnishes ready in different little bowls
– Plantain Leaves: The covers and The Belts
– The Thread

Setting Up The Work Area

Setting Up The Work Area

Setting Up The Work Area

Setting Up The Work Area

Setting Up The Work Area

Setting Up The Work Area

Setting Up The Work Area

Envoltura | Wrapping (The fun part):
1. Now that everything is set up and ready to go, we can begin assembling each hallaca. The first step is to grab one plantain leave (the shirt) and lay it flat in front of you. Be sure to place the leaf with the lines going vertically from side to side in front of you, and the protruding and most visible parts of the little veins or little nerves side up.

Start with an empty shirt

2. With a small clean kitchen rag or towel (I used my hands because I was wearing gloves, remember I told you, you will need gloves for all this), grab some annatto oil and spread it in a circular motion on top of the leave.

Add Annatto Oil

3.  Grab one of the balls of dough and place it in the middle of the leaf. If you have an awesome tortilla press like my aunt has, just press it and voila! If not you have to press the dough lightly with your fingers until its flat. You can also use a heavy plate or any other way you can come up with to flatten the dough faster and easily. Use another shirt on top of that one covered with annatto oil if you use any other method other than the manual method to flatten the dough. The flat dough should be about 4 millimeters thick and be flattened in a circular shape.

Set a ball of dough in the center

Cover with another plantain leave with annatto oil on it

Close the press

Press down a bit

Press down fully, but not too much

Open the Press and Remove the top leaf

Easy as Pie

Voila!

Beautifully pressed hallaca dough

4. With a large spoon that measures out about half a cup (or 8 tablespoons), pour some of the stew in the center of your flattened dough.

Add the stew

5. Add all the garnishes as follows for each hallaca: 2 strips of bacon, 2 strips of red bell pepper, 2 sliced almonds, 2 strips of onions or one onion ring, 2 green olives, 4 capers, and 6 raisins.

Add garnishes

6. Proceed to close the hallaca by folding in the top and bottom of the leaf towards the center, once the leaves meet in the center on top of the hallaca dough, fold that piece a couple times (the extra leaf), and lay it flat then fold the sides in.

Closing an hallaca (my aunt’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my aunt’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my aunt’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my aunt’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my aunt’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my great-grandmother’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my great-grandmother’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my great-grandmother’s method)

Closing an hallaca (my great-grandmother’s method)

7. Cover it again with another leaf (the shirt) if necessary. Then wrap it again with a cover and finally add the belt to it.

Wrapping an hallaca

Wrapping an hallaca

Wrapping an hallaca

Wrapped Hallacas Ready To Be Tied Up

8. Tie up as you would a gift (as shown in the photo) and tie up with a knot.

Tie them up

Even the little ones can help

9. Set aside one next to another, preferably not one top of another. If you run out of space you can do up to two layers, but not more than that.

Hallacas

10.  Continue until you run out of ingredients. You should end up with about 50 hallacas in total.

Cooking:
1. In a large enough pot heat up enough water (about half the size of the pot). Add a bit of salt. Cook at high heat until the water boils. Add as many hallacas as you can fit, they must all be completely submerged in the water. You can do it in batches as they become ready from the assembly line. You can also add some of the left over plantain leaves on top to help keep them submerged and also add aroma to them. Cover and let them cook for about 1 hour. You might want to have several pots and timers on your stove to keep track of you different batches.
2. Once cooked, remove them from the pot and let them drain. The easiest way is to drain them on a clean sink, and stand them up one next to the other so they can drain the water inside them a lot faster.

Boiling Hallacas

The Hallacas Are Ready

Serving:
1. Let it cool for a minute, but not too long, you don’t want it to get cold.
2. Lay them flat on a large enough serving plate that will serve as the ‘opening plate’. Cut the thread and carefully open each layer of plantain leave until you get to the hallaca. Use the last plantain leave to lift up the hallaca and carefully slide it on to the plate where it will actually be served.
3. Just to clarify… you do not eat the plantain leaf.

Serving An Hallaca

Serving An Hallaca

Serving An Hallaca

Serving An Hallaca

Serving An Hallaca

Recipe: Hallacas Venezolanas | Venezuelan Christmas Dinner Hallacas

 

Venezuelan Christmas Dinner Plate

Storing:
1. After you make your entire batch of 50 hallacas and you wish to store them, you can let them all cool down and then keep in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
2. If you are planning on freezing your hallacas its better to freeze them before they are cooked so that the dough maintains itself better. In this case, you can take them straight from the freezer and then boil them as described above.
3. If you do freeze them after they have already been cooked, you should thaw them to room temperature before you boil them again.

Re-heating:
1. To reheat your hallacas, take them out of the fridge and boil them in enough water to cover all the ones you wish to serve at the moment. Add a little bit of salt to the water. Boil them for 15 to 20 minutes, turning them at the half point.

Bollos de Hallaca:
1. If you run out of some ingredients, or if you already have the number of hallacas you wish to make and still have some leftovers of the ingredients, you can make bollos de hallaca.
2. To do so, simply add all the leftover dough, stew, and garnishes and mix them all together to form the compact dough.
3. You wrap them the same way you did with the hallacas, but add a distinction, like a little bow made of a string of plantain leaf, or a different tying method, or just something distinctive to set them apart from the hallacas. It is basically the same thing, except the bollos are all mixed in together in a uniform mass, and the hallaca has all the stew and ingredients inside and the dough outside serving as a pocket or container.

Bollos de Hallaca

Bollos de Hallaca

Bollos de Hallaca

Bollos de Hallaca

Bollos de Hallaca

Bollos de Hallaca

Bollos de Hallaca

¡Buen Provecho!

¡Gracias A Todos!

This post is very special to me and I will never forget the two days I spend making hallacas with my family, and I dedicate it to everyone involved in making hallacas possible for Christmas 2014:
Nery Russo, Felípe Ramón Ojeda Russo, Ana C. Sandoval de Ojeda, María Gabriela Ojeda de Sucre, Fernando Sucre, Marialejandra Ojeda, Raymond Wolowicz, and even little miss Andrea Sucre.
You were all involved in a small or big way, you all taught me something and you all sacrificed your time and busy schedule so we could all make hallacas together! I love you all!

*This post was supposed to be out by December 24th, but you guys know (by reading this post) how Venezuelan Christmases can be, so it is a little bit late.

International Recipe Day: Risotto ai Funghi | Risotto con Champiñones

Welcome to a new section in this Venezuelan Cooking blog. I introduce International Recipe Day to you. As I have mentioned before, Venezuela is a big melting pot of a lot of different cultures and influences. Some of our traditional family recipes include recipes that come from our ancestors, who came from other countries to Venezuela a long time ago. One example, which I posted a while back, is the Tortilla Española. In my family, we have a lot of these recipes and one of them is the Risotto with Mushrooms. I used to not care for Risotto, but once I tried my grandma Ana’s Risotto, I changed my mind.

Recently my grandma Ana came to visit from Venezuela, as she usually does every year, and I wanted to cook something with her again like we did with the Tequeños and the Pollo a la Ana. She suggested we tried the Risotto because it was a simple recipe, so I invited her over to our new apartment to cook some Risotto together, and it was delicious.

The Risotto is a traditional Italian recipe. It is believed that the Arabs were the first to introduce rice to Italy and Spain during the Middle Ages. Like most other foods, rice was initially only consumed by wealthy people until it became widely spread and was no longer a delicacy. Much like the evolution of Spain’s Paella, the Risotto evolved from a cooking technique that was becoming very popular around that era; slow cooking.

The best thing about Risotto is that it can be served as the main dish, which is what they do in Italy, but it can also be served as a complementary dish to another dish, like the Ossobuco. Risotto can also be enhanced with many other complementary ingredients such as mushrooms, asparagus, shrimp, lobster, scallops, sausage, pumpkin, etc. It is truly a versatile dish that you can make your own, just like my grandma did.

Ingredients for Risotto Ai Funghi

What you need:
– 3 Cups Arborio Rice
– 2 Boxes White Mushrooms
– 1 Box Shitake Mushrooms
– 1½ Large Onion
– 2 Cups White Wine
– 1 Cup Fresh Parmesan Cheese
– 1 Stick of Butter
– 1 48oz. Carton of Beef or Chicken Broth
– ¼ Cup Cooking Oil
– 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
– 1 Tablespoon Salt

Preparation:
1. Cut the onion in small cubes. In the meantime, in a big enough pot, begin to heat up the oil at medium heat.

Cut the onion in small cubes

2. Add the onions to the pot and cook at medium heat until golden brown.
3. Wash the mushrooms if necessary, but don’t over soak them, because they will get too mushy.
4. Add the olive oil to the pot.
5. On a separate smaller saucepan, add about half of the chicken broth and maintain it hot but not boiling, at medium heat.

Maintain the chicken broth hot at a medium temperature

6. Add the mushrooms to the pot with the onions, along with the wine. Continue to cook and stir for about 7 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and wine

7. Once the mix begins to dry a bit, add the rice to the big pot with the onions and mushrooms.
8. Begin adding the hot broth bit by bit with a ladle, while you stir it in to the rice, cooking at low heat.
9. Continue adding the broth and cooking at low heat until you have added all the broth or until the rice is cooked throughly. Add the salt.
10. Be sure that you add the broth very slowly over time, so as to not make the rice and mixture too mushy.
11. Once the rice is almost done, add the butter and the Parmesan cheese to the mixture and cook until done.

Add butter and Parmesan cheese

12. Serve with fresh Parmesan cheese on top.

International Recipe Day: Risotto ai Funghi | Risotto con Champiñones

¡Gracias Tabue!
This is another very special post, and I dedicate it to my grandmother
Ana C. Sandoval de Ojeda.

Note: I have to apologize for being so hungry and exited to try my grandma’s risotto the day we cooked it, that I didn’t remember to take the final plated photo.  So what you see here is a stock photo. I owe you one.

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Pay de Parchita | Venezuelan Passion Fruit Pie

I’m not usually a fruit dessert lover. My philosophy is that if it doesn’t include chocolate, then it’s not worth it. However, there is one fruit desert that I absolutely love, and that is Passion Fruit Pie. Passion Fruit is a tropical, exotic and seeded fruit native from South America, specifically from Brazil. The passion fruit in Venezuela is known as parchita or maracuyá, and it can have either a yellow-orange or a red-purple skin. Its shape is oval and the skin is tough and smooth. You can tell when it is ripe because the skin gets softer and wrinkled. So don’t pick the prettiest ones when buying passion fruit, on the contrary, pick the ugly ones. Just make sure they don’t smell sour or have any dark or bruised spots. On the inside both the yellow and the red versions look the same. The inside of a passion fruit is filled with black oval shaped seeds surrounded by a yellow gooey pulp. The flavor of the passion fruit is a bit sour and the aroma is very powerful. The pulp is used to make juices, mousses, cakes, ice cream, jelly and jam and to prepare different kinds of sauces, vinaigrettes and salsas. It may be hard to find passion fruit at your regular supermarket store, so try to call them ahead of time and make sure they have some ripe ones available. The fruit is available year-round so it shouldn’t be too hard to find some. Your best bet is places like Whole Foods, the Fresh market or even any farmers market near you. I would go for the farmers markets first, because the other places may be expensive, I had to pay around $3 per each fruit (crazy!).

Parchita, Maracuyá, Passion Fruit

Parchita, Maracuyá, Passion Fruit

The passion fruit comes from the passionflowers plant called Passiflora. It is said that the passionflowers’ name came to be around the sixteenth century, when the first Christian missionaries came to South America and found these flowers to be a good sign that their mission would be a successful one. The name came to be because they believed that the flower symbolized the death of Christ (the Passion of Christ). The flower itself has five petals and five sepals, which they believed to represent the disciples without Peter and Judas. The flower also has two rows of colorful filaments, which they believed to signify the halo around Christ’s head or the crown of thorns. The flower has five stamens and three spreading styles with flattened heads, which they believed to represent the wounds and the nails respectively. The flower has tendrils that look like the whips used to afflict Christ. Finally, the leaves look like fists or handgrips, believed to be those of the soldiers. Weather you believe in all this symbolism or not, you have to admit it’s a pretty cool name for a fruit.

A long time ago, my paternal grandfather used to own a restaurant called TACÚ back in Caracas. I used to work there as a hostess. My mom used to make whole desserts and sell them to TACÚ to be resold by the slice. She used to make all kinds of delicious Venezuelan desserts, and one of them was this Passion Fruit Pie. One time, our oven at home wasn’t working so my mom had to bake her desserts elsewhere. She went to my paternal grandparents’ house to bake the desserts there. My grandpa, being the passion fruit lover he is –he eats one almost every morning for breakfast– said the passion fruit pie my mom was finishing up didn’t look too presentable, and that she should leave it at his house and make another one again to be sold at the restaurant. The truth is he just wanted to keep the pie at home, and eat it himself, which he did. So now I am sharing with all of you my mom’s famous and secret Passion Fruit Pie recipe that all the clients at TACÚ (and the owner himself) loved.

What you need:
For the Crust
– 1 whole package of Galletas María Puig (María Cookies) – 250 gr.
– 180 g. Margarine or Butter
– 2 tbsp. Sugar
– ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
For the Filling
– 2 c. Passion Fruit juice (freshly squeezed)
– 5 tbsp. Corn Starch
– 3 egg yolks
– 1 cup sugar
For the Meringue
– 3 egg whites
– ½ cup sugar
– ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

Preparation:
The Crust
1. Preheat your oven to 350°.
2. Use a food processor or blender to grind up all the Galletas María Puig until they are finely ground. The Puig brand is a Venezuelan brand, and the Galletas María, or María Cookies are a staple in traditional Venezuelan brands. I understand it would be hard to find the original Galletas María Puig, however you can purchase other brands that are not the exact same, but they are very similar to the original María Cookies. Some of the other brands of María Cookies can be found at Wal-Mart, Publix, and Sedanos. The other brands are Goya, Iberia, La Fé, Conchita, Rio and Gullon among others. Just make sure that the entire package amounts to 250 gr., which means for some of the brands you may have to buy 2 packages.

Blend the María Cookies

3. Melt the butter or margarine at low heat in a small pot.

Melt the butter or margarine

4. In a large bowl combine the María Cookies, the melted butter, the sugar and the ground cinnamon. Mix well with a wooden spoon, and also with your hands to make sure there are no large pieces of cookies left behind and no clumps in the mix.

Mix the ingredients

5. In a round 9-inch pie Pyrex add the mixture and press gently with your fingers to mold and shape the mixture evenly into the Pyrex.

Shape the mixture evenly into the Pyrex

6. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°. Once done, let it cool down a bit and then put it in the fridge while you make the filling.

The Filling
7. First you must make the fresh passion fruit juice. Take each passion fruit and cut it in half, then with a spoon, scoop out all the pulp and seeds into a food processor or blender. After you have taken the juice of all the passion fruits you have (I used about 10), blend them as much as you can. The seeds will create these black spots on the mixture when you blend them, but don’t worry, that just makes your pie look even better, because it was made with fresh fruit and the seeds are edible. I did strain it a bit after I blended it, just to remove any big pieces of seeds left behind, and I used a very tight strainer. After you make the juice, it will be very strong and sour/bitter so you will have to add some water to water it down. I ended up with about 1½ cups of juice concentrate, and then I added ½ cup of water to complete the 2 cups of juice. There is no telling how much juice concentrate you will end up with, or how much water you will have to add, but you can guestimate with these measurements I provide from what I got.

Blend the Passion Fruit pulp and seeds

Blended passion fruit juice

Strained Passion Fruit juice

8. In a medium saucepan, add the sifted cornstarch, the sugar, and mix in at medium heat. Little by little, add the passion fruit juice, and mix constantly. Add the 3 egg yolks (lightly beaten), and continue to mix. Cook the mixture at medium temperature until it comes to a boil. Cook for one more minute and then remove from the heat and let it cool down.

Combine ingredients in sauce pan

Combine ingredients in sauce pan

9. Take the crust out of the fridge and add the filling mixture on top. Be sure that the crust isn’t hot when you add the filling on top of it. Let it sit for a bit and then put it in the fridge one more time for it to harden while you make the meringue.

Add the filling on top of the crust

The Meringue
10. Making the perfect meringue can be a bit tricky, so if you have already mastered this task, you can just go ahead and use your own meringue recipe. There are all kinds of rules that people believe you must follow to create the perfect mile high meringue, but I am just going to tell you, I am no meringue expert, and the two times I have made it, it has come out just fine.  I just whipped the egg whites with an electrical handheld mixer and then added the sugar slowly until I reached the desired consistency.  However, you can Google the steps to creating the perfect mile high meringue and you can follow them, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t come out just right. Here is a good blog post on Meringue.

Add meringue on top

11. After you make the meringue, using a pastry bag and tip, decorate the pie top with the meringue making swirls to create dollops with tips all around the pie top. Sprinkle the cinnamon on top just to decorate. Then bake the whole pie again for 15 minutes at 350°. You just want to brown the meringue, so keep an eye on it.
12. You can store it in the fridge after it cools down a bit. Serve cold.

Pay de Parchita | Venezuelan Passion Fruit Pie

Pay de Parchita | Venezuelan Passion Fruit Pie Individual Portion

Pay de Parchita | Venezuelan Passion Fruit Pie Individual Portion

¡Buen Provecho!

¡Gracias Mami & Mariale!
This post is very special to me, and I dedicate it both to my mother (the owner of this recipe), and to my sister for helping me throughout the whole process from searching for the right parchitas all over town up to tasting the first bite and taking us back in time when we lived in Venezuela and ate my mom’s passion fruit pie when she used to make it a long, long time ago.

Reviews of Venezuelan Restaurants in South Florida

I decided to add Venezuelan Restaurant Reviews to the blog for a couple of reasons. First, now that I live in South Florida I can actually find Venezuelan Restaurants to go to, and I will try to visit all of them, so I can figure out which ones are the best.  Second, I find that there is very little information, reviews and listings on Venezuelan restaurants, and I wish to create a detailed guide for South Florida residents and visitors on Venezuelan Dining in the area.  Of course, whenever I travel to other states I will try to find other Venezuelan Restaurants there and include reviews of those as well.

The Venezuelan population in South Florida (Miami and Fort Lauderdale Greater Areas) is quite extensive, therefore I figure more people would benefit from the reviews and it would be easier to find “authentic” Venezuelan flavor in the area to review.

I do have to say that I am by no means professionally qualified to be a food critic in any way. Think of me as the third guest on “IRON CHEF”, who is usually some random celebrity who loves food and wants some free food.  Of course I believe that I have some qualification to rate Venezuelan food, simply because I am Venezuelan, born and raised, and have eaten PLENTY of Venezuelan food in my lifetime, whether it is homemade, fast food, fancy restaurant food, frozen food, made in Venezuela or made here in the US, I have sampled it all.  But most importantly, I LOVE VENEZUELAN FOOD, and did I mention I also cook Venezuelan food? So understand that my reviews are MY OPINION, and my opinion only.

I also want to explain how I will conduct the reviews.  In order to get the full experience of the Venezuelan restaurants I visit, I will attempt to go to the restaurant at least three times before I review them.  I will visit the restaurant most likely with my husband and at least one more person in order to sample a variety of dishes on the menu.  I will try to take photos of the dishes we order.  I will also listen to the other people who are dining with me on their opinion about the restaurant and food. Finally, I will take in all the information and try to remember as many details as possible to give you a thorough review of each restaurant and give you my entire dining experience.

I will give you all the information possible on each restaurant, so you can research it in other restaurant rating sites like Zagat, Yelp and Urbanspoon.  And also so you can visit the restaurant yourself and form your own opinion.

If you wish to recommend a Venezuelan Restaurant please comment on this post.

Recipe: Perico Venezolano | Venezuelan Scrambled Eggs

Venezuelan scrambled eggs are just like Venezuelans; anything but plain.  Scrambled eggs were too boring, so we incorporated a few things to make them extra special.  Throw some onions and tomatoes, and you’ve got very colorful and tasty scrambled eggs.  I don’t know why do we call these extra special scrambled eggs Perico, but I think it is because perico is the Spanish word for parakeet, and when you add tomatoes to scrambled eggs, they get a red tint to them, just like our parakeets.

When I was a kid, my mom used to make arepas con perico usually on the weekends.  I didn’t like perico when I was a kid, but as an adult I love it.  Especially because with just a few tweaks, like using only the egg whites and no oil, you can make a lighter breakfast.

Ingredients: Perico

What you need:
– 1/8 C. Oil
– 1 Tbsp. Butter
– ½ C. Onion
– ½ C. Tomato
– ½ Tsp. Salt
– 1/8 Tsp. Pepper
– 3 Eggs

Preparation:
1.  Chop the onion and tomato in small cubes.  It is recommended to take the seeds and skin from the tomato, but… who has time for that on a Saturday morning?  I like tomatoes; skin, seeds, and all.

Chop Onion and Tomato

2.  In a large enough frying pan, add the oil and the butter and heat on medium.  You can skip either the butter OR the oil if you prefer a lighter option.
3.  Add the onion and fry until it browns (about 4 minutes).

Fry Onion

4.  Add the tomato, salt and pepper, and fry for another 6 to 7 minutes, or until the mixture dries up a bit.

Add Tomato

5.  Beat the eggs and add them to the mix (you can use egg whites only for a lighter option as well).  Continue frying and mixing for about 3 minutes until the eggs cook thoroughly and become dry, but at the same time keeping it loose and without clumping it together.  You can also add some milk to the beaten eggs to make them fluffier.
6.  Serve hot with arepas… I happened to have some avocado nearby, and it was just the perfect addition to this breakfast for champs.

Perico | Venezuelan Scrambled Eggs

Desayuno Venezolano | Venezuelan Breakfast

Note:  Perico can be served just like any other scrambled egg dish; with bacon or sausage, and toast.  It can also be served as an arepa filling (relleno de arepa), already inside an arepa. (Avocado addition is great here too… as you can probably tell by now… I love avocado)

Arepa Rellena con Perico | Perico Filled Arepa

Arepa Rellena con Perico | Perico Filled Arepa

*Serves 2

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Mojo de Cilantro y Perejil | Venezuelan Cilantro & Parsley Mojo Sauce

This is another type of mojo, like the ones most restaurants have at the table, just like they have salt and pepper.  Personally, I prefer the cilantro and parsley mojo over the mojo isleño.  You can use any mojo as a topping for tostones, hallaquitas, yuca sancochada, yuca frita, parrilla, and empanadas.  You can also use this mojo as a topping for grilled fish, chicken, pork or steaks.

Ingredients Mojo Venezolano

What you need:
– 1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
– 1 to 2 Sweet Peppers (Ají Dulce)
– ½ Onion
– ½ Tomato
– ¼ Cup Cilantro Leaves
– ¼ Cup Parsley Leaves
– 1 Tbsp. Wine Vinegar
– 1 Tsp. Salt
– ½ Tsp. Pepper

Preparation:
1.  Do not wash the cilantro or the parsley at first.  Take the leaves and measure out first, not too tightly, and then proceed to wash them. (Note: It doesn’t matter if you use curly parsley or regular parsley)
2. Finely chop all the ingredients.

Finely Chop All Ingredients

3. In a medium frying pan add the oil and begin to fry the onion and the sweet pepper for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, cilantro and parsley, and continue to fry for about 3 more minutes.  Remove from heat.

Fry All Ingredients

5. Add the wine vinegar, the salt and the pepper.  Try the mixture and add more salt to taste if necessary.

Mojo de Cilantro y Perejil | Venezuelan Cilantro & Parsley Mojo Sauce

6.  Serve as a topping of your favorite recipes, such as fish, potatoes, meats, arepas, boiled yuca or hallaquitas.

Mojo de Cilantro y Perejil | Venezuelan Cilantro & Parsley Mojo Sauce

¡Buen Provecho!

Best Arepa Filling | Los mejores rellenos para arepas

Arepa Fillings

A lot of readers ask me what is the best filling to put inside arepas, and the answer really depends on your taste.  So I created this poll to ask YOU guys, the readers, what do YOU think is the best filling for arepas.

So let’s take a vote and find out what is the most popular and delicious arepa filling or relleno.

If you are not familiar with the names you can read these two post and come back to cast your vote:

Arepa Fillings

More Arepa Fillings

Recipe: Mojo Isleño Venezolano | Venezuelan Mojo Sauce

When I lived in Venezuela, going out to have lunch or dinner at a restaurant wasn’t an everyday thing.  It was more of a luxury.  Middle class families, such as mine, did not eat at a restaurant very often.  But one thing I remember about the few times we ate out is the mojo, or what people think its called Venezuelan Green Sauce.  Mojos are a type of sauce that most restaurants have at the table like they have salt and pepper.  It’s a must.  They are on the table for you to use as you wish.  You can use it as a spread on your bread or hallaquitas, as a sauce for your meat, as a dressing for your potatoes or yuca, even for your soup.  You name it.  Most mojos are prepared with a mixture of herbs, vegetables, oil and vinegar.  Every restaurant has their own recipe and ingredients and some serve both a regular version, and a spicier version.  Personally I like to use mojos as a topping for tostones, hallaquitas, yuca sancochada, yuca frita, parrilla, and empanadas.

Venezuelan Mojo Isleño Ingredients

What you need:

– 1 ½ Medium Onions
– 8 Garlic Cloves
– 1 ½ Cups Cilantro Leaves (no stems)
– ½ Cup Parsley Leaves (no stems)
– 1 or 2 Ajíes Picantes (Chili Peppers or Red Chilies)
– 1/8 Cup Bread Crumbs
– ½ Cup Beef Stock
– ¼ Cup Vegetable Oil
– ¼ Cup Vinegar
– ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
– 1 Teaspoon Salt
– ½ Tablespoon Paprika

Preparation:
1.  Do not wash the parsley and cilantro at first.  Take the leaves and measure out first, not too tightly, and then proceed to wash them.

Venezuelan Mojo Isleño Ingredients

2.  Using a food processor, blend the onions, garlic (I suggest you mince it first), parsley, cilantro, chili peppers (without the veins or seeds).

Blend Ingredients

Green Paste

3.  After you have blended all the ingredients very well and obtained sort of a green paste, mix in the breadcrumbs with a spoon.

Breadcrumbs

4.  Place the mixture in a pot and add the beef stock, vegetable oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and paprika.
5.  Cook to a boil, and then continue cooking in high heat for about 12 minutes until it turns into a yellow-greenish color and a thick consistency.

Boil

6.  Serve as a topping for your favorite recipes, such as fish, potatoes, meats, arepas, boiled yuca or hallaquitas.

Venezuelan Mojo Isleño

Venezuelan Mojo Isleño

*Note:  My mojo looks very green, because I was unable to find the red chili peppers, so I used a green jalapeño instead.

¡Buen Provecho!

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: Chicha Venezolana | Venezuelan Chicha (Rice Drink)

Growing up in Venezuela is one of those things I would never wish to change about my life.  All the experiences, good and bad, are what make me who I am today.  Although there were some tough times, there were also plenty of great times that fill the good memories I have of Venezuela nowadays.

I was fortunate to have a loving family who valued education above all things.  I was fortunate to have parents and grandparents who made sure I could attend the best schools, private bilingual schools.  Attending a bilingual private school had advantages and disadvantages.  Of course, they were all advantages, but when you are 12 years old, you probably don’t think that having to take 16 subjects all year long (8 in English and 8 in Spanish) is an advantage at all.  Now I that I live in the US, and people can’t tell that I am from a different country, because I don’t have an accent, make me realize all the advantages.

One other advantage I remember fondly from being in a private school is definitely the food.  The school had what we call a “cantina escolar”, the school’s cafeteria.  And no, the ‘cantina’ did not serve any alcohol!  They sold anything and everything from arepas to empanadas, pabellón criollo, breakfast, tequeños, tequeñón, and anything else you might think of.

One year, my school hired a ‘carrito de chicha’, a little cart much like a hot dog cart that would sell chicha.  This tiny cart would be downstairs and my friends and I would run down during recess to get some chicha.  What is chicha? you ask?  Only the most refreshing drink you’ve ever had.  There is just something about the cold, creamy, sweet chicha that gave you enough energy to run all over during recess and still be awake for the next 4 class periods.

Venezuelan Chicha is a refreshing drink made with rice.  Back in the day, people used to soak the rice overnight, and then let it dry and grind it, then blend it and add sugar and sell it on the street as refreshment.  Nowadays, we even have commercialized chicha brands that you can buy at the store just like a carton of milk.

So now you can make your own chicha at home, and it’s very easy.  The best part is that you don’t have to wait a day while you soak the rice, or use a grinder.  Because let’s face it, who even owns a grinder?

Ingredients for Venezuelan Chicha

What you need:

– 1 Cup White Rice
– 10 Cups Water
– ½ Teaspoon Salt
– ¾ Cup Sugar
– 1 Cup Powdered Milk
– 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
– Condensed Milk (optional)
– Ground Cinnamon
– Cinnamon Sticks
– Ice

Preparation:

1. In a large enough pot, bring the 10 cups of water to a boil.
2. Once the water is boiling, add the rice, the salt, and one cinnamon stick and continue to boil for about 30 minutes, or until the rice is quite mushy.

Boil the Rice

3. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside to cool.  At this point, also remove the cinnamon stick.
4. While the rice is still a bit warm, add the sugar and vanilla extract and stir by hand.
5. Add the powdered milk little by little so it doesn’t clump up, and stir by hand.
6. Let the mixture cool down a bit longer.
7. Using a blender, liquefy the mixture.  You will probably need to do this about 2 cups at a time, because the entire batch will not fit in an average size blender.

Blend

8. Put the mixture in a pitcher and in the fridge to cool down completely.
9. Once cool, you can serve it in many different ways.  You can serve it with crushed ice, like a smoothie.  Or you can serve it with ice cubes.  But it’s always served with ice.  You can sprinkle some ground cinnamon on top, and you can also add some condensed milk.

Venezuelan Chicha with Cinnamon

Venezuelan Chicha with Cinnamon and Condensed Milk

Chicha Venezolana | Venezuelan Chicha (Rice Drink)

¡Buen Provecho!

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: Pollo A La Ana | Venezuelan Creamy Chicken

This recipe is one of my favorites. Not only because it is delicious, but because it was one of the very first recipes I learned how to prepare by heart. The name is in honor of my grandmother Ana Cecilia Sandoval de Ojeda. Even though she claims that we have all taken the recipe and changed it and improved up on it in our own way, she is still the main inspirational source for the original recipe, and many other recipes featured in my blog. This isn’t really a traditional Venezuelan recipe that everyone knows about, but it is definitely a big part of my life and memories of my childhood in Venezuela.

I first tried this delicious creamy chicken recipe when I was a kid and I used to visit my grandparents’ home almost every weekend. Sometimes I was dropped off at their house after school, too. And when I was lucky, I would eat my grandma’s creamy chicken for lunch. She would usually serve it with rice, some vegetables and baked plantains on the side. But the plate wasn’t ready until she poured some of the creamy sauce on top of my rice.

When I moved from Venezuela to the US, I sure missed my family and all the Venezuelan food I was so used to eating. I moved in with my aunt and my cousin. Life in the US was very different and we were always in a hurry, working and going to school at the same time. No one really had time to cook. However, we decided we needed to start cooking and eating home-cooked meals. My cousin and I, college students and part time employees, didn’t really know our way around the kitchen. We could make arepas, sandwiches, salads, eggs, and… that was pretty much it. One day we decided we needed to learn how to cook more complicated dishes and we both remembered our favorite creamy chicken, and we decided to give it a shot. We called grandma and our aunt for their recipes, but they gave us the basic steps and no measurements to go by, assuming these grown women should already know their way around the kitchen. After a couple of attempts and tweaks, and even after one time Whooper (my cousin’s dog) stole one of our chicken breasts, we finally nailed and perfected our own version of the creamy chicken. We served it with rice, plantains, and my now famous (don’t really know why) broccoli and cauliflower au-gratin. After a couple of times, our dish became popular in the family and we would be requested to prepare it at least once a month. We also prepared it when we had our boyfriends (at the time) come over for dinner, bragging about our cooking skills, as if we knew how to prepare any other complicated dishes. We even prepared it once for my (now) husband, and he loved it, even though he doesn’t care for chicken and he doesn’t like mushrooms.

Last time my grandmother came to the US, I invited her over to our place for a day of cooking. That day she taught me how to prepare the best tequeños ever, and I also asked her to show me how SHE makes the original version of this creamy chicken. She made it and showed me, but she wanted to include the changes and additions all of us in the family had made to the recipe, and it came out to be the best version of the creamy chicken I have ever had.

A couple of weeks ago, she was in a rush, and she didn’t have time to go through all her recipes, so she decided to just call me and ask me for the recipe. This particular moment in time, when my grandmother, my inspiration in the kitchen, my mentor, had called ME for a recipe, was the moment I felt like a real woman.

Therefore, I dedicate this one to my grandmother, Ana Cecilia Sandoval de Ojeda, with all my love.

What you need:

– 4 Chicken Breasts
– 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil (Extra Virgin if preferred)
– 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
– ½ Teaspoon Soy Sauce
– 1 Teaspoon Adobo Seasoning (without Pepper)
– ¼ Onion (chopped in small pieces)
– 1 or 2 Garlic Cloves
– ½ Cup Sliced Mushrooms
– ½ to 1 Cup White Wine
– 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
– 3 to 4 Shallots (optional)*
– 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro (optional)*
– 1 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg (optional)*
– ¼ Cup Sliced Almonds (optional)*

Preparation:

1. First wash the chicken breasts and dry them thoroughly. You can filet them in half (my grandma prefers it this way), you can cook them whole, or you can make your life easier and buy the thin ones instead (just buy double the amount – so 8 thin ones instead of 4 whole ones).

Filete Breasts

2. Season the chicken breasts with the olive oil, Worcestershire, soy sauce and adobo. Make sure to get it on both sides. It’s easier if you use a bowl for this step.
3. Leave the chicken breast to soak in all those flavors, and in the meantime cut the shallots and the onions, and begin to sauté them along with the minced garlic on a pan.

Chop Onions and Shallots

4. Add the chicken to the pan and begin to sauté them as well, because they will take a bit to cook thoroughly.
5. After the chicken is partially cooked, add the mushrooms and cilantro, and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes.

Slice Mushrooms

6. Add the wine to the pan and let it cook at medium heat.
7. When the chicken breasts and the mushrooms start to brown and there is little wine left, you can add the heavy whipping cream and let it cook for a while to mix all the flavors together. NOTE: Don’t let it cook for too long, or the sauce will start to become too thick.

Cook At Medium Heat

8. At this point, you can add salt and pepper to taste (if needed), along with the ground nutmeg and almonds.
9. Serve hot with rice, vegetables and plantains.

Pollo A La Ana / Venezuelan Creamy Chicken

*All the optional ingredients are the result of all of us changing and trying to make the recipe our own.  No matter which one you decide to include or leave out, this creamy chicken will surely be a favorite in your home.

¡Buen Provecho!

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!