The traditional Venezuelan Christmas dish par excellence is the hallaca. In every home around this time the family begins to prepare the budget and choose the day to meet with family members and close friends to prepare the delicious Christmas dish.
At home, since I have been living alone for three years, I join my neighbor Serlena to prepare the hallacas. We do it each with our own budget, our own ingredients and our own seasoning. Serlena prepares hers and I prepare mine. But we meet in the same house and use the same wood stove in the same patio.
The preparation of the hallacas is a whole day process. It is a very laborious task. But the most important thing is that the family and friends are united in its preparation. It is the most beautiful part, the sharing. At Serlena's house we always buy a liqueur, soda, lemon and ice and with a cheerful musical atmosphere we share a special day of Christmas tradition. We have been doing it this special for us for three years now.
Today we went shopping with Serlena and me, in her vehicle, because my car has been damaged due to a lack of tires. Today we bought all the necessary ingredients: beef, pork, and chicken. The onion, garlic, onion, onion, onion, chili, chili, garlic, paprika, seasoning, and banana leaves. The thread to tie the hallacas and I bought a handmade spicy spice, the spicy spice is optional.
We missed buying the firewood and the drink but we left that for tomorrow, then we went to the gas station to put the fuel in Serlena's vehicle.
There we had a long queue, where we spent more than an hour without moving the car at all because the queue did not move forward. Noon arrived and we were already hungry and thirsty. We decided to leave it that way without getting gas because we did not see any movement of the cars, so after more than an hour in line we left to go home. Here in my country the simple fact of filling up the vehicle with gas is a process that requires time, patience and absolute dedication.
Today in the afternoon I am not going to the gym because I will spend it washing the five kilos of banana leaves I bought to wrap the hallacas. Since I've been going to the gym I haven't missed a day, I love to warm up with dance therapy and then do the exercises that the gym instructor tells me to do. My neighbor Serlena also goes to the gym. We decided to stay today in the afternoon to get a head start on washing the banana leaves.
Tomorrow we plan to meet after lunch at Serlena's house across the street from mine. Today we will each go to our respective houses to start the process of chopping the seasonings. After buying the firewood tomorrow we will start the meeting that we have made a tradition between us. Last year we finished preparing everything last night. Serlena made 86 hallacas and I made 78. She makes more because she buys more ingredients. I hope this year will be the same amount as last year because she bought more meat and pork than I did.
As I said at the beginning, the most important thing when preparing hallacas is the union of family and friends. It is a Venezuelan tradition that despite the vicissitudes of life, always in December we make the effort to make it, because in Venezuela, a Christmas without hallacas is not Christmas.
What traditional Christmas dish is prepared in your country?
Thanks to my followers and sponsors for their support, tomorrow they will be in my thoughts when I taste my first hallaca of the year, made by me. Happy holidays to all of you, you are the best.
Pictures from: unsplash
That looks yum! Here rice cakes are present in almost every celebration but especially during the holidays. We can do away with every other dish but rice cakes is a must.