At the start of each holiday season, as Christmas lights go up and carols fill the airwaves, I inevitably get a giddy craving for Venezuelan holiday food.
Simply put, I think it’s delicious. As if that weren’t reason enough, many of the traditional dishes are only served once a year. And then there’s the fact that they require a long list of difficult-to-find ingredients, multiple days, and a circle of kitchen helpers to complete, contributing further to my enthusiasm.
As a preview of what’s to come (later this week I will write about my–or, um, my mom’s–efforts at cooking a traditional Venezuelan holiday meal) and as a way to satisfy my annual craving early, last week I went to Arepas Cafe in Astoria, Queens and excitedly ordered the Christmas plate shown above.
The most important component of the holiday meal, and the quintessential symbol of Christmas in Venezuela, is the hallaca, a yellow corn tamale wrapped in plantain leaves filled with seasoned chicken, beef, pork, olives, capers, raisins, onions, and, depending on the region and the cook, almonds, garbanzos, eggs, potatoes, and more.
It is a thing of beauty, mixing the country’s diverse cultural roots into one delightfully wrapped present. The corn meal used in the masa is of indigenous origins, many of the fillings, such as olives, raisins, and capers, of Spanish descent, and the plantain leaves a link to our African heritage.
The second most important component might be pan de jamón (ham bread), which rolls ham, olives, and raisins in a wheat flour dough, leading to bread that is crusty on the outside, and soft and moist on the inside, filled with an intense combination of flavors.
Next on the plate comes ensalada de gallina (hen salad), a salad of diced potatoes, carrots, apples, onions, and peas mixed with shredded chicken or hen in a mayonnaise-mustard-olive oil dressing. And finally, we have pernil de cochino horneado (baked pork leg), a juicy, tender, protein-laden addition.
The culinary traditions extend into drinks and desserts. The most popular Christmas drink is ponche crema, a creamy alcoholic drink similar to eggnog, with rum as the base. Typical desserts include dulce de lechoza, papaya in a raw sugar cane syrup; panettone, a sweet bread loaf introduced by Italian immigrants; turrón, nougat with almonds dating back to the Spanish; and Black Forest cake, brought by German immigrants.
At Arepas Cafe, we settled for other non-holiday Venezuelan staples. To drink, Frescolita, a red, sugary soda, and papelón con limón, raw sugar cane with lime juice.
And for dessert, quesillo, the Venezuelan name for custard/flan/crème caramel.
Most of the components of this holiday meal can be recreated at home with relative ease, with the exception of the hallaca, without which, frankly, a Venezuelan Christmas cannot be authentically celebrated. Thankfully, it’s not hard to find a Venezuelan restaurant in NYC serving holiday food.
Aside from Arepas Cafe in Astoria, Caracas Arepa Bar in Williamsburg and the East Village, El Cocotero in Chelsea, and Patacon Pisao in Elmhurst are also offering traditional Venezuelan holiday plates through the rest of the holidays.
In fact, in researching other cuisines serving holiday meals in the city, I found that Venezuelans may be among a small minority that consistently serve holiday staples in restaurants. Venezuelans (and Venezuelan-Americans like me) take holiday food seriously, just like their “beautiful women” and “petroleum.”
(Check out this mural of Venezuela’s defining words at Arepas Cafe).
Tableside Traveler 