I just love Venezuelan food, like arepas, hallacas, pan de jamon, cachapas and pabellon. These are exquisit dishes I grew up on. I usually cook hallacas and pan de jamon in December. Las December I made about 35 hallacas. It took me about 3 days to do it myself, but it was worth it. Here are some good recipes to make hallacas:

1. http://www.recipelink.com/


2. http://farrera.com/recipes.html

Just make sure you get lots of help. Don't try doing it by yourself or you'll end up with a huge back ache as I did.

Arepas are another favorite and are made with the same type of corn meal as the hallacas, but are really easy to make. It is made with precooked corn flour. The best flour is Arina Pan and can be found in most Mexican or South American stores, throughout the US. Just add water, a bit of salt (some people also add some sugar or grated parmesan cheese), make it into shape and cook in the oven, fry pan or on the Tostiarepa, arepa maker. After it is done, just open it up and add your favorite filling. the filling can be anything from just cheese to ellaborate stews of all kinds.