In Venezuela, the traditional Christmas dish of corn dough filled with meat is called Hallaca.
A hallaca consists of seasoned corn dough wrapped around a cooked filling, commonly a stew of beef, pork and chicken. Ingredients such as raisins, capers, olives, onions and peppers add contrasting sweet, salty and savoury flavours. The parcel is wrapped in plantain leaves, tied with string and boiled, giving it a distinctive rectangular shape and fragrant flavour.
Hallacas are strongly associated with Venezuela’s Christmas season and are often prepared communally. Making them can involve several stages—cooking the stew, preparing the dough, assembling the parcels and boiling them—so relatives and friends frequently work together. The dish is widely described as a national food of Venezuela, although similar preparations appear in nearby countries and the Caribbean.
Regional recipes differ considerably. Andean versions may include chickpeas, eastern versions can have a sweeter filling, and coastal or island variations may use fish. Some Venezuelan families also make vegetarian hallacas. A hallaca is not simply an arepa: an arepa is generally a griddled or baked corn cake, while a hallaca is a filled, leaf-wrapped parcel cooked in water. Its indigenous corn base was later combined with ingredients introduced from Europe.