Food and memories. I remember Venezuela.
By marguicha
@marguicha (215492)
Chile
July 23, 2021 11:33am CST
During all my young years, all I knew about Venezuela was through a wonderful book that I had to read at school: Doña Barbara.
Later on, when Pinochet took over, my then best friend went to exile to Caracas as many Chilean did then. And after some years I went to visit them. I had added to my knowledge of the country that it was rich in oil but not much more.
It was there when I met the delicious arepas ( the national bread) and the wonderful main dish "Pabellón criollo". I have her recipe for both of them as she is a wonderful cook. I remembered all this today because I made eggs for breakfast the Venezuelan way, called "perico" and they are served with the arepas.
There are so many memories attached to food!!! And after this, I will check if they have online Doña Barbara to read it again although I have read it many times and know that I have the book in my second floor.
Do you have memories attached to food?
14 people like this
13 responses
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
23 Jul 21
Yes, my grandmother made yeast dumplings which we ate with blueberry compote. It was my favourite dish. She didn't make it often and because of this it was extra special. When we moved away from the house where we lived together for my first ten years, I rarely ate them any more. And they never tasted the same!
6 people like this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
23 Jul 21
Some food doesn´t taste the same as our childhood memories of them.
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
23 Jul 21
@kobesbuddy Yes, she did. We lived in the Stollen (in German it's only Stollen, not Stollen bread) part of the country which is Saxony in the south east. She - like all other housewives - prepared the dough at home and then took it to the baker's. The housewives sat together in the warm bakery and chatted until the baking was done. Then they and other members of the family went home carrying the Stollen on a wooden board in front of them as if it were a procession. These are early childhood memories from the 1950s!
3 people like this
@kobesbuddy (74594)
• East Tawas, Michigan
23 Jul 21
@MALUSE Did your grandmother ever make stollen bread?
2 people like this
@kobesbuddy (74594)
• East Tawas, Michigan
23 Jul 21
Arepas looks so delicious, made into Pabellon criollo:) Yes, my grandmother use to make homemade breakfast treats. Stollen is a German bread, made with candied fruit, chopped nuts, with a thick white frosting. It was delicious!
4 people like this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
23 Jul 21
I love stollen but I don´t eat it often. I once made it with a friend who had a German mother. It was a long job and we ate it in minutes.
2 people like this
@kobesbuddy (74594)
• East Tawas, Michigan
23 Jul 21
@marguicha Also my grandma made a German dish homemade noodles with sauerkraut, so delicious!
2 people like this
@kobesbuddy (74594)
• East Tawas, Michigan
23 Jul 21
@Alwayshopeful Oh yes, we'd ladle it over mashed potatoes:)
2 people like this
@kaylachan (57727)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Jul 21
Yeah, but nothing quite like that. My mom made a lot of different foods, and I miss her cooking. When I eat/hear about some foods it brings me back. I also adopted her habit of burning grilled chease.
3 people like this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
23 Jul 21
My mother had some cooking habilities that I could never reach.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
23 Jul 21
I make and eat ceviche fairly often. I´m mising it now because I like to go myself to buy fresh fish and sea food. I don´t buy any of it online. I know you love Cozumel
I´m in love with Ciudad de Mexico.
I´m in love with Ciudad de Mexico.1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (56302)
• Philippines
24 Jul 21
Oh yes a lot of them. My childhood memories has started to unfold. These foods are bingka, sundol, lanson, suman, bichobicho, kalamay hati, puto, among others. Sorry you don't understand them for they're in our local dialect.
2 people like this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
24 Jul 21
But I will check them online. There are many of your dishes that are similar to ours. They come from the time of the Spanish. Only your recipes have soy sauce added.
2 people like this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
25 Jul 21
@Nakitakona I just read a puto recipe with flour instead of rice
1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (56302)
• Philippines
25 Jul 21
@marguicha There's none. They're more on snacks not a dishes They're sweetened except puto, a steamed rice cupcake.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
24 Jul 21
I guess. Specially when we are children we attach emotions to food.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (36451)
• Toccoa, Georgia
24 Jul 21
Yes, my Mom made the best fried chicken.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
25 Jul 21
I don´t do fried food very well. When Leticia was with me, she was in charge of the fried fish or chicken.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (73473)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Jul 21
My mom made the very best pork chops and when I was little dad and I would eat up the delicious and juicy meat and pass the bones on to mom to gnaw off the rest of the meat, She always laughed and said that between the tow of us she was lucky to get at least one chop or she would only have the bones to gnaw on, Another great memory is with the same pork chops, There would always be very good drippings left in the pan, One time she made them for guest and at eight I could not even see the top of the stove, But I knew that when mom made her pork chops she would take black bread and soak it in the drippings and give it to me to eat and it was so good, So while she and dad ar with the guest I get a slice of black bread and standing on tiptoe manage to dredge it in the pan drippings, My best clothes, drippings running down both arms, but happy chewing on the greasy black bread,
2 people like this
@Fleura (29126)
• United Kingdom
24 Jul 21
That all sounds delicious, I love to try different foods. I have never been to any South American countries (only made it as far as northern Mexico) so I still have that continent to explore one day. I used to have a student friend-of-a-friend from Venezuela, I remember him talking about the avocado trees in his garden at home.
I think my main childhood food-related memories are of roast Sunday lunches. My mother would prepare the food then my father would tend to the roasting meat and potatoes while my mother took me to chapel.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
24 Jul 21
We have a culture of barbecues in my country. But we don´t put ground meat there but thick steaks. We only add some hot dogs for the children
1 person likes this
@YuleimaVzla (1505)
• Maracaibo, Venezuela
24 Jul 21
I am flattered by your recognition of my country, and as such, everything you have explained is accurate. I am Venezuelan and although we are not in the best of times, we were home to many nationalities in the oil era. Doña Barbara is the novel by Romulo Gallegos, all Venezuelans have to study it in high school.
The arepas with perico (eggs, tomato and onion) is my favorite breakfast. I appreciate your appreciation of our culture.
2 people like this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
24 Jul 21
When many Chileans went on exile at the Pinochet era, Venezuela opened their arms to receive them. Now that Venezuela has problems, we have many Venezuelan here.
When I was school, Doña Bárbara was a book we had to read. And then, when I studied Literatura Hispanoamericana at the university, we studied it again in another level.
When I was school, Doña Bárbara was a book we had to read. And then, when I studied Literatura Hispanoamericana at the university, we studied it again in another level.2 people like this
@YuleimaVzla (1505)
• Maracaibo, Venezuela
24 Jul 21
@marguicha Yes, there are Venezuelans all over Latin America, Argentina and Chile, there are many of my friends, there are good people and others not so much, but where they emigrate they must respect the country that has opened the doors for them.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (156271)
• United States
24 Jul 21
Yes, I have many food memories. I remember my aunt making one of my favorite cakes: chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and bananas between the layers. The bananas made the cake rich and moist.
1 person likes this
