X-MAS DINNER

In Venezuelan cuisine, an hallaca (alt. spelling, "hayaca") typically involves a mixture of beef, pork, capers, raisins, and olives wrapped in maize (cornmeal dough), bound with string within plantain leaves, and boiled or steamed afterwards. It is typically served during the Christmas holiday.

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The traditional hallaca is made by extending a plantain leaf, greasing it with a spoonful of annatto-colored cooking oil and spreading on it a round portion of corn dough (roughly 30 cm), which is then sprinkled with various fillings. While no two families make hallacas in quite the same way, the most common fillings include a mix of stewed meats (pork, poultry, beef, lard, crisp or pork rind), raisins, nuts, pepper filled olives, almonds and occasionally boiled eggs.

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The filled dough is then skillfully wrapped in an oblong fashion and tied with string in a typical square mesh before its cooking in boiling water. Afterwards, it is picked from the pail with a fork, unwrapped and served on its own plantain leaves with chicken salad, pan de jamón (ham filled bread) or plain bread. In the Andean region, the filling is cooked with the rest of the hallaca, while in the rest of the country it is usually cooked beforehand.

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The ideal hallaca has a silky golden-reddish glow. In taste, it aims to balance the saltiness of the meats and olives with the sweetness of the raisins and of the dough itself.

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After making a number of hallacas, the remaining portion of ingredients is occasionally mixed together in order to obtain a uniform dough. The dough undergoes the same hallaca wrap and cooking preparation, although typically smaller in size and much fewer in number. The result is the bollo, which may be offered as a lighter option to the hallaca at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

After cooking, hallacas can be frozen for several weeks with no change in flavor. It is common for families to eat hallacas as late as May or June of the next year.

Ingredients differ from region to region and from family to family. It is not uncommon to find hallacas with chickpeas, tomato, bell pepper, pickled vegetables, and garlic. Potatoes are included in the Andean variation. Also, some of the traditional ingredients may be substituted by local variants such as fish and lobster (East Coast) and plantain dough (Maracaibo).

Liberal quantities of beer for the men, wine for the women.

Canapes (usually smoked salmon, crostini, etc.)

Roast goose

Roast potatoes and parsnips

Stuffing (sausage meat, breadcrumbs, sweet chestnuts)

Chipolatas

Stewed red cabbage with spices and apple

Glazed carrots with honey and mustard

Gravy

Bread sauce

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Flaming Christmas pudding with cream and custard

Trifle

Mince pies

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Christmas cake

Cheese

Strong coffee and/or spirits

yep it is...missing eating those with my family and friends...:)

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

Sounds very tasty.Thx for sharing.

:-D

*Create your own destiny,fighting against your dark sides,raise your

spirituality.Every day is a new day.A new life.

Keep the faith!*

it's not our dinner but one of our traditional food during christmas season..:)

Bibingka, is a rice cake similar to the Western pancake in appearance. In taste, texture and way of cooking, however, they are very much different from each other. This is made from galapong, baked in a special clay pot, lined with a piece of banana leaf, with live coals on top and underneath. It is topped with slices of kesong puti (white cheese) and itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs). The newly-cooked bibingka is spread with butter and sometimes sprinkled with sugar then served with niyog (grated coconut). Galapong is glutinous rice soaked in water then ground with the water to form either a batter or a dough, depending on what the cooked dish is supposed to be.

Bibingka

Puto bumbong is a dish made from purpled-colored ground rice cooked in bamboo tubes that are placed on a special steamer-cooker. Then, they are removed from the bamboo tubes, spread with butter and sprinkled with sugar and niyog (grated coconut). They are then wrapped in wilted banana leaves which will keep them warm and moist until ready to be eaten.

puto bumbong

this traditional sweets are usually served after attending christmas mass (usually during dawn, or early mornings), best served with ginger tea..:)

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

on horse meat. Like horses though.

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"There's this thing called being so open-minded your brains drop out". - Richard Dawkins