“Sometimes the garden path lined by rosebushes could lead to a thicket of thorns.”
― Gabriela Romero-Lacruz, The Sun and the Void
Thanksgiving travels put me behind schedule for my 52 weeks of cooking and reading challenge, so this week I’m catching up.
First course: Venezuelan, and I made cachapas and guasacaca, inspired by The Sun and the Void by Venezuelan-born author, Gabriela Romero-Lacruz.
The book
The Sun and the Void is an epic fantasy focused on two women trying to find their place in the world: Eva and Reina. Inspired by the history and folklore of South America, The Sun and the Void reminded me of Game of Thrones, and I really enjoyed the world-building. The details the author created for the religions, the caste system based on species and the magic is masterful. However, the plot was so stuffed, I found myself losing the thread frequently and finishing it was exhausting.
The food
Though The Sun and the Void takes place in a fantasy world, the author is from Venezuela and the characters in the book enjoy several dishes common to that part of the world: arepas, roasted capybara and cachapas.
Cachapas seemed the easiest and most accessible — a corn pancake, filled with cheese. I added bacon to the filling as well, and served them with black beans and a Venezuelan take on guacamole called guasacaca.
First, the guasacaca, because it’s the easiest. I used this recipe from Serious Eats, which uses avocados, peppers, cilantro, parsley, garlic, lime juice, vinegar and olive oil. Put all the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and blend until pureed. Then turn the food processor on high and drizzle in the olive oil.
The result is a smooth, very green and herby salsa—I loved it.
The corn pancake batter also comes together in a food processor/blender. Add fresh corn kernels, corn flour, all-purpose flour, an egg, water, some sugar and salt into a blender. Puree until you have a fairly smooth batter.
The batter is very thick, so I had to use a spoon to smooth it out into a pancake-like shape on the skillet. Cook until golden on both sides, and then fill each pancake with whatever you want. Queso de mano is traditional, but I used shredded Monterey Jack and some crispy bacon.
The verdict? My pancakes were ugly, but delicious: a slightly, cheesy, flat bread. Because the dough is made from fresh corn kernels, not dried cornmeal, it’s moist and soft rather than gritty. The recipe I used didn’t make very many pancakes, but because of the thickness of the batter, they were surprisingly filling. I loved the guasacaca too, though my fiance thought it tasted too “green.” I ate it with tortilla chips and used in my eggs the following morning.
I’d definitely this meal again, and experiment with different fillings for the pancakes.