Venezuelan food in a vegan version: the proposal in Lima that you should know for this Christmas

For Carlos Zamora, co-founder and chef of Noqa, they have tried to make their Christmas proposal as similar as possible to the original Venezuelan version. We talked with him about which are those dishes that bring back good memories and that are only prepared this holiday season.

“My influence for being Venezuelan made us decide to open this business. Also, coincidentally my partner, Norma Olivo, is Peruvian but she lived in Venezuela for 7 years, so she is also very steeped in Venezuelan gastronomy ”, He comments on how they decided to venture into opening a restaurant where they offer Latin American food, but with a strong Venezuelan spirit.

Carlos Zamora explains that they seek to expand Venezuelan gastronomy by being a 100% vegan or plant-based option. Currently, he has some Venezuelan, Colombian, Mexican and Peruvian dishes. But without a doubt, one of the most striking in his letter are those from his native country. Not only because of the textures but because they all have a large amount of good quality vegetable protein.

christmas dinner

Zamora comments that unlike Peruvian traditions, in Venezuela people don’t eat turkey or chicken, but rather pork. But since he is vegan, they have sought to replace them with plant-based ingredients. “So that it has a better texture we have added rice paper and we have taken it to the oven. In the case of the sauce, we have made one that is like served with the pork, and gives it a typical Venezuelan-Christmas flavor.”Add.

Another of the dishes that are only available during the Christmas season is ham bread and chicken salad. In this case, the chef reveals that he made a variation, using shredded soy meat to replace the chicken, and everything else remains the same. The salad with potatoes, carrots, peas and chopped apple with vegan mayonnaise.

Your dinner also includes the hallaca, a dish similar to a tamale that comes wrapped in a banana leaf but much larger in size, and according to Zamora, it is eaten as a main course and not as an appetizer. “Normally, it is made of meat, in our version it has meat but soy. In addition, it is usually made from yellow corn, but here we do not find that corn. So we are using white corn and we are dyeing it with achiote.”comment.

And no, the hallaca is not eaten with bread, as in Peru we can eat tamales. The hallaca is a main dish that is usually large.

“Always at Christmas, Venezuelan families make hallacas. For example, now that we are close to Christmas, moms and grandmothers do a lot. My grandmother made between 400 and 500 hallacas and the rest of the month we ate hallacas for lunch or dinner.”remember.

Dinner is not complete without the traditional ham bread. “It is a bread that is eaten only at Christmas, only in this season of the year can you get it in bakeries. Not only something very typical but sentimental. You buy it and we all have breakfast together”, he comments. Zamora reveals that there are people who accompany the ham bread with mayonnaise, but there are others who never add it.

Something that caught the attention of Noqa’s chef is the large amount of panettone that we Peruvians eat. “We eat panettone, but mostly Italian is what is available and is imported; Some families and some not. indicates.

As for Venezuelan sweets, he indicates that there are some traditional ones such as sweet milky (papaya) and chocolate cake with nuts.

Before offering this week for the 24th, Noqa offered a few as a trial. Zamora reveals that a client bought one for her and when she opened the taper an aroma came out so characteristic that she could not hold back her tears, that smell brought back many memories, it was undoubtedly like returning to her country for a moment. “He could not resist the urge to cry because of the smell of the mixture of the hallaca and the ham bread”, indicates.

Retail:

• Closing of orders December 22.
• Orders at 960550950
• Av Paseo de la República 475, La Victoria
• Price: 25 soles for one dinner and 80 soles for four dinners.