Is Hugo Chavez responsible for the decline of Venezuelan food?

I went out to lunch at a local Venezuelan restaurant this afternoon, on the recommendation of a few of my colleagues.

This was my first experience with Venezuelan food and I found it to be very, er, hispanic. I'm sure I'm being culturally insensitive but the menu items had a lot in common with other Spanish-Latin dishes: rice, cheese, chicken, beef. They served fried plantains in place of beans. The best choice from the menu at our table was the arroz con pollo - the generous portion of saffron-colored rice was mounded over a piece of juicy, boneless chicken.

However, that's not what I had: the milansa de carne con arroz and tajadas (plantains). A batter-dipped and fried steak - the piece of meat was beaten, I swear, to like 1/8" thick. At that thickness, after breading and frying, not a lot of taste survives. I attribute this marginally-satisfying dish to conservation measures made necessary by the growing number of shortages that are occurring under Hugo Chavez: water, power, beef, independent media.

The arepas were great, however.

:)

United States economy based upon their dining experience...

Irresponsible post in the extreme.

is the fucking drooling morons taking it at face value. :thumbsup:

Well if you didn't like the Chavez restaurant where the help got a bigger share of the profit than the owners compared to previous years, you could always pay a visit to the...

ObamaRhama "We Are Change" Eatery
(brought to you by FascistCorp Inc.)

From the menu you can select

Banker-Bailout-Brisquit, it will only set you back $700BILLION

or how about

Broken-Promise-Pilaf, it comes with no new taxes for the rich, no end to secrecy and signing statements, and no end to uncharged torture and death. There's also about 50 side dishes too numerous to list.

then there's

Health-Care-Mignon, While the ObamaRhama waiter promises a mouthwatering delicacy what he really brings you is Slug-breaded Horse-sh*t deep-fried in dog-piss. AND your kids, grandkids, greatgrandkids will be paying the bill till the 32nd of Nevervember.

For the discerning but more macabre style of patron, there's always...

Leg-of-Collateral-Damage, a side benefit of the Predator Drones, offered as a "to go" item only, (management not responsible for violation of anti-cannibal laws)

through land reform to small time farmers.

Venezuela has always imported most of its food, its land tied up by huge landowners who often leave it fallow. You know, hoarders.

Unfortunately, what people found when they built simple shelters on their new land is that the paperwork was tied up in knots and they couldn't get loans to clear and plant the land. So the whole thing stagnates, tied up in bureaucracy and banks, Venezuela a net importer of food while people able and willing to grow it sit frustrated and in poverty on land they aren't sure they'll ever own legally and be able to plant.

It's a huge mess and Chavez needs to cancel his TV show and spend his time lighting fires under the bureaucrats and the bankers to get these people planting and harvesting.

Of course, that has nothing to do with the lack of a truly local cuisine expressed in a US based restaurant. Just posting in case anybody wants to know.

I also love Mexican food (don't right), but if you thought your Venezuelan fare tasted like Mexican, you weren't at a very good restaurant.

oop

 

argh