In December, Venezuelan families turn their kitchens into small factories. The hallaca is the national Christmas dish, and making it is a group effort spread over a day or two: one person cleans the plantain leaves, another spreads the golden corn dough, someone spoons on the guiso, a slow cooked stew of beef, pork and chicken, someone else adds the adornos, the decorations of olive, raisin, caper and red pepper, and the most trusted pair of hands folds and ties each parcel with string. Then they are boiled in batches, stacked in the fridge and eaten through the holidays, given to neighbors and compared, quietly and endlessly, with everyone else's.

Its ingredients tell a long story: corn from the Indigenous kitchen, wrapped in leaves the old way, filled with olives, capers, raisins and wine from the Spanish one. Every region and every family adjusts the guiso, sweeter in some places, with chickpeas or egg in others. This recipe makes about a dozen, a modest batch by Venezuelan standards, and it is a fine project for the long break after the season finale, preferably with a few willing helpers and music playing. Make the guiso a day ahead and the assembly becomes the fun part.

The onoto oil

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons onoto (annatto) seeds

Method

1. Put the oil and the onoto seeds in the small saucepan over low heat. Warm gently for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, without letting the seeds fry or crackle. Take it off the heat and leave it for 10 minutes.
2. Pour the oil through the sieve into a bowl and discard the seeds. You will use some in the guiso, most in the dough, and a little to brush the leaves.

The guiso

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) beef chuck
• 1 lb (450 g) boneless pork shoulder
• 1 lb (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) onoto oil
• 2 large yellow onions
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 leek
• 1 red bell pepper
• 6 ají dulce peppers
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) grated papelón or dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup (240 ml) chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons precooked white corn flour

Method

1. Heat the onoto oil in the large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions, scallions, leek, red pepper and ají dulce with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, for 10 to 12 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.
2. Turn the heat up to medium high, add the beef and pork, and stir for 5 minutes until they lose their raw color. Add the chicken and stir for 3 minutes more.
3. Stir in the grated tomato, wine, papelón, Worcestershire sauce, mustard if using, salt, cumin and black pepper, then the broth. Bring to a boil, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
4. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes more over medium low heat to reduce the liquid. Mix the 2 tablespoons of corn flour with 1/4 cup (60 ml) water and stir it in, then cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Taste: it should be well seasoned, savory with a gentle sweetness. Adjust the salt and sugar.
5. Spread the guiso in a shallow dish to cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

The dough and the adornos

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups (500 g) precooked white corn flour
• 2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) onoto oil
• about 3 1/2 cups (830 ml) warm chicken broth
• 24 pimiento stuffed green olives
• 1/3 cup (50 g) raisins
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 red bell pepper or jarred roasted red pepper
• 1 small onion
• 24 whole blanched almonds

Method

1. Put the corn flour and salt in the large bowl and pour in the onoto oil. Rub it in with your fingers until the flour is evenly orange. Add the warm broth a cup at a time, kneading with your hand after each addition, until the dough is smooth. Knead for 3 minutes more.
2. Divide the dough into 12 balls about the size of a small orange, roughly 3 1/2 oz (100 g) each, and keep them covered with a damp cloth so they do not dry. Put the adornos in small bowls in a row.

Assembling, tying and boiling

Ingredients

• 12 large and 12 small prepared plantain or banana leaves
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) onoto oil
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt

Method

1. Lay a large leaf on the counter, shiny side up, with the grain of the leaf running left to right, and brush the center with a little onoto oil. Put a ball of dough in the middle, cover it with a piece of plastic bag, and press it out with your palm into a very thin circle about 9 inches (23 cm) across, about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Peel off the plastic.
2. Spoon about 1/3 cup (85 g) of cold guiso into the center of the dough and spread it a little, leaving a wide border of dough. Arrange on top 2 olives, a few raisins, a few capers, 2 strips of pepper, an onion ring and 2 almonds if using.
3. Lift the near edge of the leaf and fold it over so the dough edge meets the far edge of the dough, closing it over the filling like a turnover; peel the leaf back and press the dough edges together. Then fold the leaf over fully, fold the far side back on top, and fold in the two short ends underneath, so you have a flat rectangle about 4 x 6 inches (10 x 15 cm).
4. Set the parcel seam side down in the center of a small leaf and wrap the small leaf around it. Tie it with twine as you would a present: twice lengthwise and three times across, pulling firmly so the parcel cannot open, and knot it well. Repeat with all the dough and filling.
5. Fill the stockpot two thirds full with water, add the salt and bring to a rolling boil. Lower in 6 hallacas, laying them flat, and weigh them down with a heatproof plate if they float. Boil for 1 hour, keeping the water bubbling and topping up with boiling water from the kettle. Lift them out with tongs into the colander, drain, and cook the second batch.
6. Let the hallacas rest on a rack for 10 minutes before opening. To serve, snip the strings and unfold the leaves on the plate; the hallaca is eaten from its leaf.

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