Venezuelan+Food

The food in Venezuela is very influenced by European meals, especially Italian, Spanish, and French. There are also native foods and some African influence on the cuisine. Venezuela is a very large country and many of its diverse regions have their own style of cooking.

On the coast there are many excellent fish, shellfish, and even crayfish. A lot of these dishes also include coconut.

In the Andean region of Venezuela many rural villages sell cured meats and sausages. Wheat is usually used instead of cornmeal, even in the most well known dishes. This region is very famous for its trout, or trucha. These fish come from this region’s many streams.

Arepa, Venezuela’s most famous dish, is a cake made from fried, grilled, or baked cornmeal. Unlike Colombian arepas, it is usually split open to be filled with cheese or meat. Arepas are a major part of a Venezuelan __#|diet__ and usually replaces bread.

Here is a __#|recipe__ for the Traditional Venezuelan Arepa. It makes 5 to 8 arepas:

Ingredients

 * [|Pre-cooked White Corn Meal] [[image:https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/WPQleRVBLis5QpIVLGp-QaM5NG5iOT8ZTHAywtioKFF2YATgre7ykLhhImDsUZ6XAz-TCH7wXCXRNZUKbo7su7dcelH5-yQ8KBxyerRoKUl5_NxDufs]] - 2 cups
 * Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
 * Hot water - 2 cups
 * Melted Butter - 2 tablespoons
 * Oil - 3 tablespoons

Cooking Instructions
Before you start, preheat the oven to 400ºF (204ºC)

In a bowl, gradually pour the hot water over the white cornmeal flour (arepa flour).

Add the melted butter and salt then stir until it is mixed and forms a dough. If you like, you add a little milk at the same time as the butter.

Cover the dough mix with a plastic wrap to let it cool down and rest for 10-15 minutes.

Knead the dough for a few minutes then roll it into roughly 3-inch (8cm) balls and then flatten them with your hand until they are only about 1/2 an inch (1.5 cm) thick. These resulting patties should be about 4-5 inches (10-13 cm) in diameter.

Heat the oil in a skillet or frying pan. Add the flattened patties to the pan and cook about 5 minutes each side until a slight golden brown crust appears. Make sure they don't brown them too quickly otherwise they will not be cooked well enough in the middle. Lower the heat if this is the case.

When ready, remove them from the pan and leave them a moment on a paper towel to drain the oil from them.

Next you can either put them in an [|Electric Arepa Maker] or grill them in an oven.

In the pre-heated oven, they should be left for about 15-20 minutes until a crust (known in Venezuela as a concha) is formed. The electric arepa makers do this in about 5-8 minutes.

Once ready, serve warm and enjoy!

This recipe was taken directly from [|www.southamerica.cl]

2 tbsp. chopped parsley 4 red snapper fillets, skinned (about 1 lb.) 2 tbsp. butter 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour 1/8 tsp. salt 1 c. milk 1 can (4 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained 1/4 c. dry sherry 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese Paprika or snipped chives For red snapper fillets or any other fish fillets.Sprinkle onion and parsley in the bottom of a 12 x 7 1/2 x 2 inch baking dish. Place fish fillets on top. Cover, and bake in a 350 __#|degree__ oven for 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Drain off any liquid that has accumulated in the baking dish. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until blended. Add milk all at once. Stir in mushrooms. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes more. Stir in sherry. Pour over fish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to oven and bake (uncovered) about 5 minutes more or until heated through. Sprinkle with paprika or chives. Makes 4 servings. || This recipe was taken from: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1626,145172-254194,00.html
 * VENEZUELAN BAKED SNAPPER FILLETS ||  ||
 * 2 tbsp. chopped onion

Here's a recipe for a common Venezuelan dessert, Tres Leches Cake. This means Three Milk Cake in Spanish. Makes about 28 cupcakes
 * 8 eggs, separated
 * 1 1/3 C granulated sugar
 * 1 t vanilla extract
 * 1 1/4 C all purpose flour
 * 3 T corn starch
 * 1 t baking powder
 * pinch of salt
 * 6 oz evaporated milk (1/2 can)
 * 11 oz condensed milk (3/4 can)
 * 3/4 C heavy cream or 1 can of coconut milk, unsweetened (I used heavy cream)


 * 1) In a big bowl, beat the egg yolks and 1 C of the sugar until pale and fluffy.
 * 2) Add the vanilla.
 * 3) In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, corn starch, and salt.
 * 4) Mix until combined with the yolk mixture.
 * 5) Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
 * 6) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Add 1/3 C sugar at the end. Do not over beat!
 * 7) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Fold the whites into the yolk and flour mixture, being very careful not to deflate the batter.
 * 8) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Fill cupcake liners about halfway.
 * 9) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
 * 10) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">With a serrated knife, remove the top golden layer on each cupcake to expose the sponge. You can toss the tops in the trash or proceed to eat them all! You can see the pile of cut off tops on the left edge of the photo above.
 * 11) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Mix the three milks and spoon them into the cupcakes.
 * 12) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Put about three T of the milks into each cupcake.
 * 13) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Wait for the milks to be absorbed and add more. You will see a pool of milks at first, like the photo above, but soon the milks will completely absorb into the sponge cake.
 * 14) <span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Refrigerate the cupcakes covered for 5 hours or overnight.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">Read more: [|http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/05/tres-leches-cupcakes-ode-to-venezuela.html#ixzz2Pc70fK5j]

<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">

This is me making the Tres Leches Cupcakes by myself. It was so much fun!! Queta S. June 2013

<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Tequenos <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Venezuelan Cheese Sticks <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none;"> They are cheesy bread sticks. Usually served with Venezuelan style guacamole. Tequenos can be filled with aditional fillings such as sliced hams. There can even be dessert tequenos.

Llanos: beef and game (deer, chigüire, lapa, morrocoy, etc.), mostly grilled