Eats & Beats: Venezuelan Hallaca takes a village, really

In our ongoing search for holiday food traditions, a co-worker told me about her Venezuelan favorite, Hallacas.  The hallaca is more than a tamale, WAY more, involving stew, making dough, wrapping in banana leaves, and lots of family members to do all the work.

The most insight I gained was from watching the three-part tutorial on YouTube, posted by Bay area chef and cultural anthropologist Adriana Lopez.

Here’s the link to Part 1 of 3 on YouTube.  You will want to watch them all!

Adriana’s blog www.PicaPica.com points you to many great South American and Caribbean food and cooking ideas, which she shares at restaurants in San Francisco and Napa.

Which brought my morning partner Carlos to the obvious question, where does one get hallacas in the Denver area?  The first answer is that they are best when you make them, but you need time, materials, and PEOPLE to do all the work involved.  It seriously takes days and days to do the preparation.  But Adriana says when you make them (in November), you make hundreds or thousands, and eat them all through December.

A KUVO listener who once lived in Venezuela told us families trade hallacas to see which one is the best.  It’s quite competitive, with the most affluent families able to put the most meat in their bundles.  

As for hallacas in Colorado, hot and ready to eat, my search on Yelp yielded  a few restaurant possibilities.

And this hot track on YouTube from Oscar D’Leon, “Hallaca” will certainly get you in the mood.

Feliz Navidad!