In Venezuela Navidad is by far the most awaited and important time of the year. El espíritu navideñocan be felt all the way since mid-November, when shops and bakeries start to decorate and put up their arbolitos (little tree); a time to forget about diets and to spend time with your loved ones. Join Luis Manuel Cordoba for The Dep's second annual Venezuelan Christmas, a fabulous night of amazing food, wonderful music and festive holiday cheer.

Unlike the in the United States and other countries, in Venezuela San Nicolás (Santa Claus) isn’t the generous present giver. Instead, every child excitedly waits for their presents to be brought by el Niño Jesús, who arrives after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve to bring presents for well-behaved children. Santa Claus is stlll an honoured guest, a representation of the Christmas spirit, but more like el Niño Jesús’s sidekick when it comes to delivering presents. 

For many, the best part of Venezuelan Christmas is the food, the traditional Christmas meal of hallacas, pernil and pan de jamón. La hallaca is a sort of tamale made out of yellow corn dough, filled with a beef, chicken and pork stew embellished with raisins, olives, and capers, which is then is wrapped in banana leaves, tied with string and boiled. El pan de jamón (ham bread) is a brioche bread filled with smoked ham, raisins and green olives, and el pernil is a baked and glazed pork leg. La ensalada de gallina is a creamy chicken salad with potatoes, carrots, peas, and mayonnaise.

On Nochebuena, after eating our plato navideño, families sit together and open the presents from their amigo secreto (secret friend). Some days or even weeks before Christmas Eve, each family member writes their name on small pieces of paper that are then folded and put on a jar from which everyone take turns to pick one and find out who you will be your secret friend. On Christmas Eve, you put your present underneath the Christmas tree and wait to find out who is your secret friend.

Venezuelans cheer up Christmas time with the rhythm of gaitas, a folk music with roots in Zulia state in the western part of the country. It features distinctive instruments like the furruco, charrasca, tamboras, the beloved cuatro, with lyrics that range from serious social themes to funny, popular jokes.
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Chupe
The Venezuelan take on chicken soup, usually with potatoes, corns and fresh cheese or crema.

Hallaca
Traditional Venezuelan corn tamales stuffed with 3 meats — beef, pork and chicken — with olives, raisins and peppers, wrapped in banana leaves.

Ensalada de Gallina
Venezuelan chicken salad with potatoes, carrots, green peas and cilantro

Pan de Jamon
A classic Venezuelan Christmas treat: tender brioche bread rolled around a mix of ham, bacon, olives and raisins

Pernil
Venezuelan style roasted pork leg

Torta Tres Leches
Venezuelan-style sponge cake incorporating 3 kinds of milk, with a whipped cream topping and cinnamon garnish.
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Luis Manuel Cordoba is a Venezuelan Chef from Maturin City who opened his first restaurant in 2001 in Mérida, a culinary hub in Venezuela. Later, he joined forces with his brother, also a chef, to establish a corporate catering company before moving to Toronto with his family in 2010. He quickly found himself working as the chef of Arepa Café, Toronto’s premier purveyor of authentic Venezuelan arepas. In 2015, they launched The Arepa Republic, an award-winning food truck that serves delicious Venezuelan dishes at events across the GTA. @theareparepublic