Venezuela’s crisis reaches BBC headlines (at last!). And whilst the government burns trucks containing humanitarian aid, basic food shortages persist and people remain hungry, ill and frustrated.
Mi Father, who has always been a ‘foodie’ has learnt to be restrictive and resilient in order to survive the hyperinflation. Nobody escapes devastation. I would never have imagined that a practicing doctor who once traveled the world with his four children, would ever struggle filling in his cupboard with the most basic of supplies. One of his hobbies during the week was to go through the multiple collection of recipe books and encyclopaedias, in search for the perfectly paired menu for the Sunday family meal. It was his way of celebrating the weekly gathering and of demonstrating his love.
He remains an inner foodie and sometimes I would get irritated as he would insistently ask me over the phone, to cook things at home here in the UK. Intense emotions invite me to reflect (I am a therapist, at last) on why he gets so fixated on specific recipes. It’s with immense sadness that I realise his insistence possibly comes from a place of restraint projects he is not allowed to flourish, of aspirations he is no longer free to achieve. My dad’s dreams and visions, as many others’s, had been imprisoned. Food is just the smallest of examples but, as with his love demonstrations, it’s incredibly significant (to me).
Today I am making one of those recipes he can’t stop talking about: rice pudding. So basic, but none of the ingredients (rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon) are to be found on Venezuelan supermarket shelves, and in case you haven’t followed the news recently, then it would surprise you to know there is not even electricity in Caracas since Thursday. Again, I have this recurrent feeling that we don’t appreciate enough the privileges of living in democracy and this is not just my small way of acknowledging it but also my way of process my own feelings. I hope you enjoy this Venezuelan version of the ultimate of traditional puddings.
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| © The Teaspoon |
Ingredients
Yield: serves 4
90 gs arborio rice
250 ml water
875 ml milk of your choice
2 cinnamon sticks
115 gs granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping:
Raisins, mixed berries, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, chopped pistachios, found cinnamon.
In a strainer, rinse the rice until the water is clear.
Place the rice in a medium-size saucepan along with the water. Let it boil for about 7 minutes until the water is almost fully evaporated.
Add the milk and a couple cinnamon sticks. When it boils lower the heat and cook the rice at medium heat for approximately 15 minutes.
Stire frequently using a wooden spoon.
Then add the sugar and cook for other 30 minutes. Incorporate the salt and cook for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and pour the rice in a large glass container or in small ramekins. When ready to serve, sprinkle with ground cinnamon, dry fruit and nuts of your choice.
Enjoy!
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| © The Teaspoon |
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