A Dish with Meaning: Venezuelan Hallaca

      In the 15th century, while the Spanish colonizers invaded Venezuela, the Native Tribes (Arahuacos, Yanomamis, Caribes...) had to find ways to survive. While they were slaves for the Spanish colonizers, the natives would collect the colonizers’ food leftovers, which were typically diverse types of protein and vegetables. They would take all the food they could find and hide the leftovers underground, wrapped in plantain or banana leaves to keep it clean so they could eat it later at night out of sight. This food was named Hallacas.

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     Later, hallacas were made differently in every region but always with the same concept in mind. This traditional dish is now typically made during Christmas, and I like to think that it is because it is so special and meaningful that it would lose the meaning if made constantly. For as long as I can remember, every year a week before Christmas, me and my whole family would go to my grandmother’s house and make Hallacas. I remember being around 6 years old and watching my mom, grandma, and aunts make them in such an artistic way. 

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     Cooking hallacas is unlike cooking anything else. There were stations and each station was taken care of by someone depending on their age. Firstly, the plantain leaf would be cleaned, and this was the only step my sister and I could help with, because it was easy but tricky. We would grab the huge leaf carefully and clean it with a towel and some water. If you were too harsh, the leaf would break, and it would no longer be used. In the second station were my aunts, they would put a layer of Masa on the leaf, which is made from water and corn flour. On top of the masa goes the Guiso, which is the cooked mixture of all the protein and vegetables (pork, chicken, beef, bacon, and spices,) this was usually my mom’s job. After the guiso we would put toppings, which were peppers, onions, potatoes, eggs, raisins, and green olives. Sometimes they let me and my sister do that step too if we behaved. After toppings came the hardest part, which was wrapping the plantain leaf into a square. This was usually my grandma’s job. After the hallaca was wrapped, everyone would take turns to tie them with cotton twines and boiling them. 

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   There are a lot of traditions in Venezuela, but the most common one was freezing the hallacas and waiting to eat them on Christmas eve. Before that, we would only eat the guiso with casave. It is also tradition to gift hallacas whenever someone visits, or we went to someone’s house. This hallaca’s exchange is so beautiful because everyone makes them differently, and we get to taste everyone’s recipes. We eat hallacas on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, and in my family, we would wait until midnight to eat. The hallacas we had left after New Years were evenly distributed to each member of the family and we would eat them in January. In Venezuela we are used to waiting an entire year to eat hallacas again, making them extra special. We see it as a dish that saved the Native Tribes during the hardest times, which is why we appreciate it more and only make them during a special time of the year. 

 

    After moving to the United States in 2016, it was only me, my sister, my mom, and my aunt making hallacas. The first year was hard because we were so used to having our whole family around. Sometimes it felt like the hallacas-making day was even more special than Christmas, and we certainly confirmed it that first year. It was only after that day that I realized how tradition, culture, and food is what brings and keeps people together. Even though we were not all together physically, we still felt each other’s company through the making of food, and we still do to this day. Every time I think about hallacas, a picture of my family comes to mind, and I think that is my favorite thing about it. I have not been able to go back to Venezuela since then, but I am sure that once I come back it would be as if I never left, and when I get to make hallacas with my family again, I hope they at least let me put the masa in the plantain leaf.