I think I’ve made it obvious that I’m not a big fan of Venezuelan cuisine. But, from time to time I do like to eat the national dish – pabellón criollo. The dish consists of white rice, black beans, shredded beef or chicken, and sliced sweet plantains.

There are other variations of the dish – sometimes they put a fried egg right in the middle – but, my personal favorite is with sliced avocadoes. I think the trick is finding a place that prepares it with a lot of flavor and is willing to make slight adjustments based on your preferences. According to some Venezuelans, you cannot say you’ve visited here without trying this dish

I’m always the first to complain about people’s stereotypes regarding Haitian culture. I hate it when people say “you don’t look Haitian” or “you speak very well ‘for a Haitian’”. I realized that I’m so irritated by these comments that I miss an opportunity to teach others about what makes my culture so great. Better late than never, right? First lesson: how we eat.

Haitians (in general) eat three meals a day with very little snacking in between. Breakfast is usually something pretty heavy like eggs and boiled plantains or even spaghetti. Kids often have a lighter dish like bread and café au lait (yes, we drink coffee as children) or hot chocolate. The picture below is smoked herring (chiktay in Creole) which is sautéed with onions and hot peppers (we mostly use Scotch bonnet). You can eat this with bread or boiled plantains. I like it so much I can eat it throughout the day as a snack with crackers.

Lunch is a pretty heavy meal, as well. Most dishes will consist of rice and beans in some form and meat. Some people also like to include a vegetable such as yuca, plantains or bread fruit. The dish below is red beans and rice, fried pork and plantains. Fried pork (griyo in Creole) is a very common dish sold by street vendors all over Haiti. It sounds easy to make, but there’s a trick used to prepare it that makes it nearly impossible to replicate at home. I think it has to do with the cut of the meat and the spices used.

Dinner is usually the lightest meal of the day. In my neck of the woods, we never really ate any rice or meat after 6 PM. It’s very common to have a porridge like the one pictured below made from grated plantains (you seeing a theme here) with some toast. Or, we sometimes had hot chocolate with a baguette. I must note that Haitian cuisine is very versatile in terms of porridges which can also be made from yuca, millet, and cornmeal.

This is of course a brief explanation and there’s a whole lot more to Haitian cuisine. Don’t worry, I plan on sharing more in the future ; especially the many uses of some of the vegetables I mentioned here. Any fellow Haitians who eat/ate differently at home, please feel free to share.

Lunch in El Hatillo was a delicious rugula and serrano ham pizza at Das Pastellhaus Pizzeria. The town has an abundance of Italian, Asian, and Spanish restaurants. They also have a couple of Swiss fondue joints.

Dessert was gelato at Gelatto e Caffe. They didn’t have as many flavor offerings as other gelato places I’ve been to in Caracas, but the mantecado was lovely.

Lastly, I had to try the local chocolates. Blue Moon Chocolates has a variety of flavors. The only downside is that they don’t let you sample

I’ve wanted to visit La Estancia since I arrived here in 2009. I read about it in a Venezuela guide and it sounded like the type of low key, but beautiful cultural site that I enjoy. I finally made the trip last week and was not disappointed. The entrance is very green, especially walking in from the busy Avenida Francisco Miranda.

At the end of the entrance walkway, there’s a small museum with mini statues from the Bolivarian Revolution (I, think) and similar paintings.

While the museum is quaint, the main attraction at this site is the outdoors area. The flowers, the grass, the hidden walkways leading to seating areas are very pleasant.

Outdoor art is very common in Caracas, and La Estancia has its share.

We visited the park on a Friday and it was the perfect way to kick off the weekend. A definite must-see if you’re looking for some tranquil space or time in Caracas.

Before I got here in December, my husband raved about a restaurant he went to with some colleagues where the chef could create whatever dish you wanted. Although that kind of restaurant sounds complicated to me, I was up for trying it. The restaurant is Yantar and is located in Los Palos Grandes. As the website mentions, the chefs are specialists in blending traditional Latin American dishes with Caribbean flavors. The decor is very nice – I would say that this it’s higher end, but I have no idea how many stars it has, if any.

For starters, we had a carrot puree with crushed pepper and olive oil,  compliments of the chef. It was very creamy and the toppings added a nice edge to what could otherwise have been a dull flavor.

For my entree, I had a seafood platter which was accompanied by pasta covered with a ginger sauce. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of ginger and felt that it overpowered the pasta. The sauce in the middle was a reduced teriyaki sauce that I felt also had too much ginger.

My husband had a grilled tuna over a sweet potato puree. The tuna was very fresh and well prepared. The purée was creamy with a hint of lime. The butter sauce underneath was a rich and complemented the both the tuna and purée. If I liked tuna more, I would’ve like this dish a whole lot.

We didn’t have dessert this time, but I’ve tried their tiramisu and it was very good. Prior to dessert, they serve a pre-dessert which is a sort of rice pudding with coconut. I’m also not a fan of rice pudding, or coconut really, but I was able to enjoy eating it. Overall, my dining experience hasn’t been that great at Yantar mostly because I’m a picky eater. I do, however, recommend it to anyone who appreciates refined Caribbean/Latin American cuisine. Remember if you don’t see anything on the menu to your liking, the chefs take special requests.