Hallaca

In Latin American cuisine, an hallaca (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈʎaka], [aˈʝaka]; alt. spelling, hayaca and ayaca) is corn dough stuffed with a stew of beef, pork, and chicken, fish or other seafoods in some places, and it is "adorned" with raisins, capers, olives and wedges of fowl meat. Like some Mexican tamales it is folded in plantain leaves, tied with strings, and boiled. It is typically served in Christmas season and has several regional variants in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Colombia. It has been described as a national dish of Venezuela. There are also versions of this dish throughout the Caribbean. In the Dominican Republic, known as Pasteles en hojas made from ground plantains or guanimos made with cornflour stuffed with ground beef or chicken; in Trinidad and Tobago, it is known as pastelle, as in Puerto Rico, known as "pastel" and made with a green plantain, green banana, squash and root vegetables or boniato dough. A characteristic of the hallaca is the delicate corn dough made with consommé or broth and pork fat (manteca) colored with annatto or "onto". Hallacas are also commonly consumed in eastern Cuba.

---