Today we made hallacas. Actually it started yesterday. All afternoon yesterday I prepared the ingredients and Katrina and some friends helped me wash the plantain leaves (the wrapping for the hallacas).
Here is a step-by-step of the hallaca-making process.
Katrina helping wash the plantain/banana leaves.
Making the dough balls (from corn flour).
Flattening the dough to begin adding all the fillings.
All the fillings: potatoes, garbanzo beans, raisins, beef, red pepper, green olives, hard-boiled eggs, capers, bacon, onion, chicken.
A bit of each ingredient in the center of the flattened dough.
Fold over the flattened dough to make a nice pocket.
Wrap the pocket in the plantain/banana leaf.
Tie the plantain/banana leaf with the traditional Venezuelan hallaca tie.
47 hallacas all together, tied and ready for cooking.
Boil each hallaca for 60 minutes.
Open and ...
enjoy!
* You do NOT eat the banana/plantain leaf. It is just the wrapping!
Give me a call if you want one. We have plenty! A special thank-you to the Sterken family for coming the third year in a row to help us make these. Soon I hope to post about the progression from year to year. Stay tuned.
yum...those look good. With my mom being from the Philippines, we have "different" Christmas traditions too. We never have the traditional...turkey and ham for dinner (well not just that anyway). There is always some kind of dish that includes rice and egg rolls.
ReplyDeletewhat fun! i'm loving reading about the different venezuelan traditions :)
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