Xmas in Venezuela

I had a couple years without expending Christmas back home. This year I came back to spend time with my family, enjoy the Venezuelan cuisine, and hear a little our xmas music “Gaita”. For Xmas festivities our typical dish is Hallaca, Ensalda de Gallina y Pan de Jamon.

Hallacas

Hallaca

Ensalada de Gallina

Pan de Jamon

The hallaca is quite difficult to explain but is some sort of big tamale filled with a beef stew. The ensalada de gallina (hen salad), is pretty simple, just add cut potatoes and carrots, with shredded hen breast, some peti pois, and mix everything with mayonaise and a touch of mustard. Finally, the pan de jamon (ham bread) is filled with ham, olives, and raisins.

So for the curious ones, and following my friend Carla’s style I will give you the family recipe for the ham bread.

Ingredients

1 fg flour

100 grs butter

1 cup milk

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

½ cup lukewarm water

3 tsp yeast

3 eggs

1 kg ham

Olives

Raisins

Directions

To prepare the dough, you put the tsp of sugar with the yeast in the lukewarm water and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Melt the butter with the milk in a pod and add the salt (don’t let it boiled). Let the mix cool and then add the eggs, sugar, and half kilogram of flour, kned the mix or use a kitchen aid. Finally add the yeast mix and the rest of the flour and kned until you have a soft but not sticky dough.

Let the dough rest for 2 hours, cut in 3 portions, stretch in rectangles, with a brush cover it lightly in butter, add the ham, olives and raisins.

Rolled it from left to right, put it on a oven tray spread a little bit of whisked eggs all over the top, and let it rest for ½ hour.

Put it on the oven at 350 – 475 for 25 minutes.

Dough

Preparation

Ready for the Oven

Final Product

The hen reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Rye”.

Frank Costanza: Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen?

George: Why don't we talk about it another time.

Frank Costanza: But you see my point here? You only hear of a hen, a rooster and a

chicken. Something's missing!

Mrs. Ross: Something's missing all right.

Mr. Ross: They're all chickens. The rooster has sex with all of them.

Frank Costanza: That's perverse.