Pabellón criollo

The Pabellón Criollo is basically a dish that consists of flavorful shredded beef, rice and black beans that had been stewed. As simple as it may seem to be, many consider it to be Venezuela’s national dish. Variations of the dish exist but the preparation remains the same with rice and black beans.

It could be served with tajadas or fried plantains on the side, to add flavor as well as prevent the food from slipping to the sides of the plate. In this case the classic dish is called pabellón con baranda, in which “baranda” translates to guard rail.

When served with a fried egg on top it is referred to by Venezuelans as pabellón a caballo. “A caballo” is horseback riding in Spanish and the egg represents a person, riding the mound of rice and meat that represent the horse in this particular version.

Besides these two main variants, people also add other things to the dish such as granulated sugar on the beans, a local cheese queso Palmita over the beans or hot sauce over the meat.

Pabellón Criollo may also be prepared with other types of meat besides beef, with which the dish is usually made with. On special occasions, such as the Lenten season when consumption of beef or pork is prohibited, fish and at times, caiman or alligator and chigüire, which is Spanish for capybara are used as meat substitutes.