Venezuela

 Welcome to Venezuela!  With everything going on in the news, I thought this may be an appropriate time to make their national dish.  So, we took a detour from Slovenia and went here instead!  Venezuela is home to the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, which is Angel Falls (and it looks stunning!).  It is home to the world's largest rodent, the capybara, and has more land dedicated to conservatorship than any other country.  According to Google, the population is 28.5 million people and the capital is Caracas.  Their national dish is...

Pabellón Criollo!

It's a rice and beans meal with some meat.  To go with Pabellón Criollo, we made Chicha, which is similar to Horchata.  Let me tell you, this meal took some time to prep and had a lot of different components!  I had to read and re-read the recipes to get things figured out and then time everything out to make it.  I also made fried plantains to go with it, as I read that this is a common addition to the meal.  Here's what I did:

PABELLON CRILLO

Black Beans

1 small package of black beans

6 C water

2 bay leaves

Sofrito

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cumin

1/2 tbsp  paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Shredded Beef 

4 lb flank steak

6 C water

1 onion, cut in quarters

1 carrot, chopped

1 bell pepper

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 bunch of cilantro

1 bunch of parsley

Salt, to taste

Sauce of The Beef 

2 tablespoons avocado oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

14 oz can of diced tomatoes and 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tbsp curry

1 tsp paprika

Meat broth (left from boiling the beef)

Chili flakes, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large container, wash the beans very well under running water and discard any beans that float.
2. Put the black beans in a large pot, add the water and the bay leaves, and cook over medium heat for 1 hour and a half or until you see that the beans are soft. 
3. Meanwhile, prepare the sofrito. 
4. Put the sofrito ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed and the consistency of salsa.
5. Place this sauce in a pot with a lid and cook for about fifteen minutes over low heat.
6. Remove from heat and set aside.
7. When the beans have softened, add the sofrito to the beans and cook over low heat for about 30 more minutes so that the broth thickens a bit, add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Place the meat in a large pot.
9. Add the pieces of onion, carrot, celery, the chopped peppers and the bunches of cilantro and parsley to the pot with the meat.
10. Cover with water, cover the pot and cook for 2 hours over medium heat, or until the meat is fall-apart tender. 
11. Remove the meat from the pot and let it rest for about 5 minutes before shredding it. 
12. With the help of two forks, shred the still hot meat into thin and long strands.
13. In a frying pan, brown the onion and garlic in avocado oil until they are translucent.
14. Add cumin, curry, paprika and stir.
15. Add a little of the meat broth.
16. Add the shredded meat, the bell peppers, and the chopped tomato, and mix all the ingredients. 
17. If you see that the meat is a bit dry, add more broth.
18. Let cook covered and over low heat for about 15 minutes so that all the flavors mingle. 
19. Season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes to taste.
20. Serve with white rice and fried plantains, and enjoy!

(Source: Pabellón Criollo)

CHICHA

1/2 C rice

3 C water

1 C milk

1/2 can condensed milk

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Soak the rice in 1 cup of water from 2 to 12 hours.
2. Rinse the rice and cook it in a pot with 3 cups of water. 
3. Cook it for 40 minutes with the cinnamon stick until the rice is extremely soggy and can’t absorb more water. 
4. Let it chill and remove the cinnamon stick.
5. Blend the rice, milk, condensed milk, salt, ground cinnamon and nutmeg. 
6. Blend on high speed for 5 minutes. You can add more milk if you feel that the chicha is too thick.
7. Top with extra sweetened condensed milk and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
8. Enjoy!

(Source: Chicha)

The verdict?  It was OK.  This is one of very few South American dishes that we didn't just love.  The meat was quite chewy, which made it hard and unpleasant to eat.  The flavors were good, but the texture not so much.   I think it would have been better if the meat was barbequed or cooked another way.  Boiling it didn't make it great.  I used the extra meat broth to make the rice - this was a good move!  It was delicious!  I couldn't eat the beans, so Handsome Husband will have to speak to the beans.  I wasn't a fan of the chicha - I don't think that I blended it long enough.  It was quite grainy.  All in all, the meal was OK, but not one we plan to repeat.

The beans -- they were beans. Nothing special and pretty bland, which was disappointing after sampling the sofrita and really liking the vibrant flavors. But even plain beans always manage to be at least a little bit good, so they still get a decent rating.

ME

Taste of Pabellón Criollo (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Pabellón Criollo (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

ME

Taste of Chicha (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 3

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 3

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Chicha (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 4

Another South American country down!  Join us next time (for real) in Slovenia!