Greetings, dear friends who make life on this beautiful platform. I wanted to join the @belenguerra initiative and share this post with you today, very full of mixed feelings. On the one hand, remembering a family recipe, specifically, one that my mother taught me, whom I have not been able to see in person for over a year. And on the other, missing this delicious Venezuelan Creole dish, part of our gastronomic culture, which, as you should know, is very much based on one of the agricultural products that in my beautiful Venezuela was grown as the basis of an exquisite diet, I mean "Corn ", which is known in other parts of the world as" Choclo ".

Poster del concurso y link para unirse al mismo.

La Cachapa Venezolana

This very typical dish of ours is called "Cachapa", which is basically a rustic type corn cake that is made with soft corn, salt and sugar (to the taste of the cook). Its preparation unites elements such as the budare, the mill and a good knife. In this publication I will try to explain to you step by step how the Creole cachapa is made. And I will use images of my authorship that correspond to a beautiful family gathering that we developed just before my departure from the country, here you will know the patio and kitchen of my mother, to whom I thank all the much or little that I know about the delicious traditional cuisine Venezuelan.

We eat this rustic cake in Venezuela at almost any time of the year. Although the month in which the corn harvest is ideal is the month of August, more or less. Always your preparation includes everyone at home. Each one takes a role and performs it. That is why I miss this food so much, and the moments at my mother's house.

Ingredientes de la cachapa:

1 . Maíz tierno (jojoto, así le decimos en Venezuela)

2. Azúcar (al gusto, no mucha porque el maíz tierno es dulce)

3. Sal (una cucharadita)

Preparación de la cachapa:

1 . Para comenzar, necesitaremos deshojar los jojotos. Es un momento muy divertido, y podrán involucrar a los más pequeños de la casa para que ayuden en esta tarea.

Cachapa ingredients:

1 . Tender corn (jojoto, so we say in Venezuela)

2. Sugar (to taste, not much because baby corn is sweet)
3. Salt (one teaspoon)

Preparation of the cachapa:

1. To begin, we will need to remove the leaves. It is a very fun time, and you can involve the little ones in the house to help with this task.

2. Luego, los más grandes, con un cuchillo bien afilado procederemos a desgranar cada mazorca de maíz. Es muy importante este proceso, deberemos utilizar fuerza pero no en exceso, porque queremos obtener solo los granos íntegros del jojoto. Llega a ser extenuante este proceso.

2. Then, the larger ones, with a very sharp knife, we will proceed to shelling each ear of corn. This process is very important, we must use force but not excessively, because we want to obtain only the whole grains of the jojoto. This process becomes strenuous.

3. Una vez tenido el maíz desgranado procederemos a molerlo para obtener una masa suave. Se debe cuidar de no perder el líquido (la leche de maíz) que cae del molino, ya que este llega a ser el ingrediente secreto para encontrar la textura perfecta en el proceso de amasado.

3. Once we have the shelled corn, we will proceed to grind it to obtain a soft dough. Care must be taken not to lose the liquid (corn milk) that falls from the mill, since this becomes the secret ingredient to find the perfect texture in the kneading process.

4. Por último, vamos a cocinar nuestra cachapa en el instrumento por excelencia creado para ello "El Budare". Este es una plancha circular de hierro fundido o barro cocido, el cual se usa en la preparación de arepas, cachapas, cazabe, mañoco o granos como el café. Allí la cocemos hasta que esté dorada por ambos lados (un tiempo estimado de 5 minutos a fuego mediano por cada lado).

4. Finally, we are going to cook our cachapa in the instrument par excellence created for it "El Budare". This is a circular plate of cast iron or cooked clay, which is used in the preparation of arepas, cachapas, cassava, mañoco or grains such as coffee. There we cook it until it is golden brown on both sides (an estimated time of 5 minutes over medium heat on each side).