If you're looking for a dish that's sweet, savory, rich, and piquant, look no further than the hallaca. Hallacas are the Venezuelan equivalent of tamales. A smoked banana leaf is filled with a mixture of ingredients to form a filling meal. Cornmeal dough is stuffed with meat, chicken, or pork, but hallacas add European-inspired flavors of capers, olives, and raisins. Also, the ratio of dough to meat differs: Hallacas go all out with filling, whereas tamales have more dough.
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