When one thinks of Venezuela what does the mind conjure? El presidente Hugo Chavez, the highest waterfall in the world (Angel Falls), so much petroleum they could bathe in it, and of course beautiful women. In fact Venezuela has won 5 Miss Worlds and 6 Miss Universes! Well it is with that we shall segue to the last of the Moleface birthdays for April. It's a double play GGJ birthday dinner for Moleface Leah and honorary Moleface Sarah. And since both ladies are internationally beautiful, drop water from a great height, spout petroleum, and are dictators, I thought it was fitting that I cook the Venezuelan national dish for them.
Now I haven't known Sarah for that long. She works with Leah and has slipped into Moleface activities like birthdays, emcee for The Logos Awards and of course Eurovision (PS. 1 WEEK TO GO!!) with aplomb. A nice wholesome lass from Tasmania, Sarah's quiet and refined behaviour contrasts most Moleface behaviour nicely. So much so that sometimes I forget she is there. And then after going to tell her about events that transpired she tells me quite affronted "Leo, I was there. I was standing right next to you!" Well whatever Sarah, just don't put your Creme Brulee in the oven for it will curdle!
And what can one say about Lady Leah. Nothing good, so I best be quiet. No I jest, or do I? A great buddy of all sorts, Leah is able to carry a multitude of metaphorical friend hats and dons the appropriate one for whatever occasion is called for. Whether it's the lively, vivacious drinking buddy; the takes-whatever-comes-our-way travelling companion; the trivially vacuous banter chum; or the compassionate and endearing confidant. Sometimes those hats are party hats and prevent us from getting into pubs cause we're too drunk!
A few years ago I travelled to Canada and the US for my friend Tim's wedding, and planned to stay in New York City for 10 days. After one drunken night with just Leah and I (who are two-thirds of the 3 L's, the other being Lady Lara) we decided she'd fly over and join me for a week. And so she did, and Leo and Leah took over Manhattan! And I have always been there for Leah like a brother (with similar names we have be confused for siblings). Like when she had to get emergency dentistry in NYC and I left to get Subway. Or when we went to a wildlife park with free range kangaroos and emus. Five kangaroos and 2 emus surrounded her, and I was able to leave the situation, so I casually walked away unscathed. But she would say I was at my most impressive when she had to go into a shop's basement to get fake designer handbags in NYC, and I said I would stay above ground so that if I heard a noise I could flee unharmed! My reasoning is that Leah is from Darwin, and I thought they bred them tough in the Northern Territory. But whatever the world throws at us, the original 'celebrity couple' will always be protected by Mr Owl. So take that Paparazzi Possum!
Now onto the food. Pabellón Criollo is the Venezuelan equivalent of the old rice and bean dish that can be found throughout the world. Their version consists of shredded beef, rice and stewed black beans. It is then accompanied with fried plantain slices. This is meant to resemble the Venezuelan flag, and it does. Well it does if we pretend that black is really blue!
Since many Venezuelans are Catholic and that beef consumption is prohibited during Lent, the beef is substituted for freshwater fish or Capybara (largest living rodent, like a giant guinea pig). It is believed that missionaries in the 16th century were struggling to convert indigenous South Americans to only eat fish during Lent. So they wrote to the Catholic church and told them the Capybara had scales, webbed feet and lived in the water. The Catholic church therefore classified them as a fish and they were allowed to eat them during this Holy time. The decision has never been reversed.
Enjoy, or as they say in Venezuela, ¡Buen provecho!
Want to eat the Venezuelan flag?
Shredded beef: http://www.venezuelanfoodanddrinks.blogspot.com/2008/10/recipe-carne-mechada-venezuelan.html
Black beans: http://www.venezuelanfoodanddrinks.blogspot.com/2008/09/recipe-caraotas-negras-venezuelan-black.html
Difficulty: 3
Appearance: 4
Taste: 4
TOTAL: 11
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
This one was pretty easy to make with only a little preplanning needed for the shredded beef. But I got stuck making a birthday cake for Leah and Sarah and so they arrived whilst I was halfway through cooking. Thankfully they didn't mind waiting and it actually didn't take that long to throw the other sides together. Also they would like me to expose my complete amateurish cooking style. So the recipe asked for black beans and I could not readily find some canned black beans. Since I didn't have the adequate time to soak dried black beans overnight I had to improvise. So with using my initiative I got white beans and simply soaked them in black food colouring!
The beef looked succulent and tender and the sofrito smelled fantastic. It symbolised the red of the Venezuelan flag. The rice symbolised the white, and it did a great job with it just being plain white rice. The blackened white beans surprisingly worked a treat, and if you didn't know their true identity you would assume they were normal black beans. They randomly symbolised the blue of the flag. The yellow of the flag was symbolised by the fried plantain slices that bordered the 3 mounds of beef, rice and beans.
The beef tasted amazing and the ingredients and spices of the sofrito gave it a good kick. The rice was once again just rice. The plantains caramelised quite well and gave a nice sweet flavour that juxtaposed the savoury meat. But the surprise of the dish was the black beans. They actually tasted pretty good and the food colouring had no adverse affects on the dish. The ladies, after they stopped laughing hysterically about the "black" beans, commented on what a lovely dish it was.
Dessert consisted of another tribulation Moleface birthday cake: Red Velvet Cake! Now I have always wondered what said cake entails and how one would go about making it. Well now that I've ticked that one of the list let me just say that for me to make another one it would have to be for a very special occasion. Like if Man landed on Mars, or more importantly if the cast of Friends came to dinner! I put the red food dye in to the cake batter, and instead of partially mixing it through, just threw on the electric mixer. My kitchen could then only be described as the aftermath of the elevator scene in The Shining! But after cleaning up and making the addictively delicious cream cheese icing we finished the night by watching Lady Gaga's concert on TV whilst eating blood cake.
So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Moleface Leah and honorary Moleface Sarah! I hope you enjoyed your food coulouring laden Venezuelan feast!!
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