Recently, Karyna and I went to Venezuela to visit our family. We went every summer growing up and now visit periodically. However, the older I get the more I’ve grown to appreciate the yummy food that my grandma and the country have to offer.
Generally, Maracuchos love food filled with cholesterol or food that leaves a trace of grease on transparent paper. In Maracaibo you eat grease at whatever time of day, so it’s not rare to see someone at six o clock in the morning eating pastelitos, or empanadas accompanied with a very cold carbonated cola, ofcourse-since the weather is sooo dang hot.
My favorite of the greasiest traditional Venezuelan foods is the Patacon! These are truly Maracuchos. The patacon is made up of a green or ripe platano (plantain for those who don’t speak spanglish) filled with “heaven” inside. Think of a sandwich, but instead of bread you have a round and flattened ripe or green platano. You can choose between a tostone (green platano) or platano maduro (ripe and sweet plantain). Personally, I lOVE sweet plantains. The most popular patacones are filled with carne mechada (shredded beef) and ofcourse cheese! Cheese is probably the number one ingredient – the cheese is shredded and the softer kind sliced. Mmmmmmmmmm... I love Venezuelan cheese! I even brought a pound back. The other popular kind is jamon y salsa. Salsa to maracuchos is a ketchup and mayonnaise mix. I hope that one day you can enjoy this heavanly cholestrol filled delight.
I gained ten pounds just reading this. 8-)
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