Recipe: Carne Mechada - Venezuelan Shredded Beef

Shredded beef is a key dish in Latin American cooking, from Cuba's rather unappetizingly named but utterly delicious "ropa vieja" ("old clothes") to Venezuela's national dish Pabellon Criollo, where the beef is typically accompanied by white rice, black beans and slices of fried plantain.

It is also used as a filling for empanadas and arepas.

The name shredded or pulled beef comes from the long strands you get when you pull the boiled meat apart.

In Spanish mechar or desmechar mean literally to separate hair into strands or to pull your hair out in fury.

Hopefully, this recipe is simple enough to avoid any hair pulling and tasty enough to justify the time it takes to boil, shred and fry the meat.

The secret to this dish is in the beef and the best cut to buy is skirt - known as flank in the USA - which will give you the right kind of strands.

I usually boil and shred the beef the day before I make my carne mechada and then leave it overnight in the fridge.

Shredding is easy and can be done with a knife, or two forks or your hands, whatever you find easiest.

The strands do not have to be uniform in size and you can experiment with different thicknesses of strands until you get the consistency you want.

Make sure you keep the water used to boil the meat as it will add extra flavour to the final sauce, which is made in typical Venezuelan style, with a sofrito of onions, bell peppers and garlic that the meat and tomatoes are then added to.

If you are serving as a meal with rice and beans the final simmer should leave some liquid in the sauce but if you want to fill empanadas with your carne mechada, boil until it is nearly dry, stirring regularly to avoid sticking or burning.


Ingredients
For enough carne mechada to serve 4 people you will need:
Half a kilo of beef skirt
1 small onion
Half a red pepper
3 cloves of garlic
Worcestershire sauce (salsa inglesa)
Salt
Black pepper
A pinch of cumin
Two spoons of tomato puree
Olive oil

Preparation

Boil the Beef

1. Place the beef in a large saucepan with enough water to cover it.

2. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

3. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

4. Set aside the water.

5. Shred the beef into strands with a knife or two forks until all the beef is shredded.

Make the Sofrito

6. Chop and dice the onion and bell pepper.

7. Crush garlic in pestle and mortar or in garlic crusher.

8. Heat two spoons of olive oil in a large frying pan.

9. Add onions and when they start to brown add the garlic and the bell peppers, a pinch of salt, some black pepper and a pinch of cumin.

10. Add the shredded beef and stir, allow to brown a little.

11. Add some of the water the beef was boiled in, tomato puree and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

12. Stir frequently as you bring to the boil and then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

13. Serve with rice and beans.

Buen provecho! as they say in Venezuela. Enjoy your meal.

By Russell Maddicks

Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

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Pabellon Criollo - Venezuela's National Dish

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Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

Tasty, cheap and nutritious, black beans are as emblematic of Venezuela as the colours of the flag - and they're good for you.

And while other Latin American countries might refer to their beans as frijoles, porotos, judias or habichuelas, in Venezuela they are always caraotas.

In England they are often sold as Turtle Beans, a name which comes from the Caribbean and is said to be inspired by their hard shiny shells.

They can be served as a soup, as a side order with a main meal, or refried and used as filling for empanadas and arepas.

They are also the only ingredient in the national dish Pabellon Criollo that is truly indigenous to the Americas, because rice is originally from India, plantains were brought to Venezuela from Africa and the beef comes from European cows.

But you don't need to stick to Venezuelan recipes. Once cooked, black beans can be used instead of kidney beans to give a creamier flavour to Chili con Carne or thrown cold into salads for colour, texture and added protein.

Black beans are incredibly healthy, with a high fibre and protein content.

Recent scientific research has proved that black beans are a Super Food - loaded with high levels of antioxidants, special molecules that help the body to fight heart disease, cancer and ageing.

Because of the dark pigments in their skins, black beans have 10 times more antioxidants than oranges, for example, and significantly more than grapes, apples and cranberries.

However, like all other members of the common bean family (Phaseolus vulgaris) black beans contain a compound called lectin that must be neutralized by soaking the beans overnight, changing the water and then boiling them vigorously for 10-15 minutes before simmering. Never cook dry beans in a slow cooker or you'll have a nasty bellyache.

And don't worry about that other effect from eating beans; flatulence. Nobody need blame the dog if you add a pinch of bicabonate to your beans while soaking.

The good news is: black beans are delicious, cooking them is simple, the ingredients are available at all good supermarkets and you can adapt the dish for vegetarians by leaving out the pork.

This recipe is for a basic black bean soup. To make the soup creamier simply put half of it in the blender and liquidize before reheating. To garnish, add a dollop of creme fraiche or natural yoghurt, with a few chopped coriander leaves on top for decoration.

For an authentic Venezuelan touch sprinkle with grated cheese. Some Venezuelans like to sprinkle two or three teaspoons of sugar over their beans but I never got used to eating them sweet.

If you want to serve the beans with rice or as a side dish to accompany fried yuca (cassava) you can simmer the beans to reduce the liquid. Don't boil the beans when reheating as you will spoil the flavour.

Black bean soup will keep in the fridge for four days or can be kept frozen for a month.

Ingredients:
To serve 5-6 people you will need:
200 grams dried black beans
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Pancetta or bacon rashers
1 onion
1 green pepper
2 cloves of garlic
Fresh coriander
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Oregano
Cumin
Worcestershire sauce (Salsa Inglesa)

1. Place the beans in a large saucepan or bowl. Cover with tap water leaving at least an inch of water above the beans as they will swell. Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Leave overnight.

2. Before cooking, drain and rinse beans under the tap. Place in saucepan or pressure cooker and cover with fresh water. Bring to boil and boil vigorously for 10-15 minutes. Add no salt.

3. Reduce heat and simmer until soft - 60 minutes (minimum) in saucepan, 45 minutes in pressure cooker.

4. To make the sofrito used to flavour the beans finely chop onions and peppers.

5. Dice pork into small cubes.

6. Crush garlic cloves in mortar or garlic crusher.

7. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onions and when they start to brown add pork and peppers and garlic.

6. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, a small pinch of cumin and Worcestershire sauce and when all ingredients are cooked remove from heat.

7. When beans are cooked place some of the water and beans in a blender, add the cooked sofrito and blend until creamy. Pour back into beans and simmer to reduce and allow flavours to combine.

8. Finely chop coriandor and add to beans just before serving, stir through.

9. Serve.

By Russell Maddicks

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Shredded Beef

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Lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

Max and Jason of Current TV join Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles for a brunch of arepas and cachapas at Beverly Hills' famous gourmet java-joint Coupa Cafe.

The restaurant is run by Jean Paul Coupal, the French-Canadian owner of Cafe Arabica in Caracas.

The menu combines single-estate coffees from the finest fincas in Venezuela with hefty helpings of popular dishes such as Pabellon Criollo, a perico platter and parchita (passion fruit) bon bons made from Venezuelan cocoa.

The song "Yo No Se", which plays in the background, comes from Amigos Invisible's album "Superpop".

To download Los Amigos Invisibles MP3 tracks click here:

To buy the CD "The Venezuelan Zinga Son, Vol. 1" click here:

To buy the new CD "Commercial" click here:




Arepa and Co: The only Venezuelan food outlet in the UK

Recipe: How to Make Arepas

Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Venezuelan Shredded Beef

Pabellon Criollo - Venezuela's National Dish

Glossary: Eating at an Arepera

Pabellon Criollo - Venezuela's National Dish

Pabellon Criollo is not only Venezuela's national dish, it's also emblematic of the country; a hearty plate of simple food that mirrors the national flag and highlights the special mix of races that has made Venezuela a country of beauty queens.

A delicious combination of carne mechada (shredded beef), arroz blanco (white rice), caraotas negras (black beans) and tajadas (fried plantains), there are few places in Venezuela that you won't be able to find pabellon on the menu.

Look for the menu del dia or the menu ejecutivo, the cheap lunch options offered at many places, which generally include a soup as a starter, a fruit juice and sometimes a dessert.

Even in the humblest of luncherias pabellon should be accompanied with arepas, the cornmeal staples that Venezuelans eat in place of bread or rolls.

If you're really lucky your pabellon will arrive with a generous helping of salty white cheese grated over the black beans, or a slice of avocado on the side.

For a fried egg on top of the beef ask the waiter for your pabellon "a caballo" ("on horseback").

If you want to be really Venezuelan about it, you might want to follow local custom and stir a couple of teaspoons of sugar into the beans.

But the secret of any great pabellon is in the sofrito, the combination of onions, sweet peppers, bell peppers and adobo (seasoning) that the beef is cooked in, especially the amount of cumin used.

Along the coast, in Choroni, or in Margarita, the shredded beef is often replaced with cazon, or baby shark.

The most exotic version of the pabellon is served during the Catholic fasting period of Lent when you may find chiguire meat in place of the beef.

The chiguire is a large guinea-pig like rodent, better known outside Venezuela as a capybara. These giant rats may not look very appetizing, but they hold a special place in the cuisine of the Llanos, the seasonally-flooded plains populated by horse-riding cowboys.

Somewhat bizarrely, in the 17th century the local creoles were able to get the capybara classified as a fish by the Catholic Church, although it probably helped that nobody in Rome had ever seen one before.

It's certainly the oddest fish I've ever seen.

The closest translation of the name Pabellon Criollo is "Creole Flag," a clue to the patriotic significance that it holds for some Venezuelans, who see the yellow, red, blue and white of the national flag in the colours of the ingredients.

Other commentators see in it a reflection of Venezuela's racial mix: the indigenous Amerindians, Spanish conquistadors and African slaves who went into the country's melting pot.

More importantly for the traveller, pabellon is a healthy, filling lunch option that won't stretch the budget, although it might stretch the seams of your jeans if you overdo it.

By Russell Maddicks

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Shredded Beef

Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Venezuelan Shredded Beef

Recipe: How to Make Arepas

Arepa and Co: The only Venezuelan food outlet in the UK

Glossary: Eating at an Arepera