Glossary H
Half Doorgebakken is the Dutch for "medium" meat
Hongo Paccu refers Mushroom in Peru.
What is the best way to put out that fire after eating a spicy or hot pepper which is a bit too hot for you? Scientists report that Capsaicin breaks down in fats, hence, drinking milk, sour cream or eating a little ice cream might help. It is also said that foods with more fat have more capability of squelching the fire. Some believe that starch helps put out the flame. The popular cure in Mexico is to consume beer. In the Philippines we are told to eat sugar, but never to drink water.
Some organizers of pepper-eating contest in Germany provides milk and white bread to contestants before they begin the contest and I see that at some point drinking milk and eating bread is effective. However, there is a limit for every person, so Emergency public health officials are also around to check the pulses of the contestants from time to time. They are the ones who determine when to put out the fire.
For me personally, the limit is person to person (based on acquired taste) basis or depending on the variety of spicy pepper consumed the people. In the Bicol Region of the Philippines, the locals are fond of eating spicy food, their best dishes are all spicy. It seems to me that they can eat as much as they like of our Siling Labuyo, I have experienced personally that they even have a bowl of Siling Labuyo right on their dining tables which they can eat anytime they prefer. I remembered in one of my vacations in Bicol that some of the locals eat them with boiled sweet potato for breakfast, particularly the men. It was so amazing for me as I can only eat Siling Labuyo when used to spiced the food, but never fresh. But I also experienced one incident when I was a child when my sister and my cousin pick up and played with Siling Labuyo, when they returned home, their lips were thick, their whole face were red and think and they were both crying. I can not remember what happened next. But we still remember until now that "funny" incident. The only spicy pepper I know of from the Philippines is Siling Labuyo, maybe it is not spicy or hot enough like Fatali, Jalapeno, Datil or Habanero.
Heifer refers to a young female cow that has not had a calf yet.
Halus is the Bahasa Malaysian word for fine or soft, as in Gula Halus which means fine sugar
- Hallacas (Hallaca) : Hallacas refer to boiled Tamales made with beef, chicken or pork, and cheese and other ingredients.The Hallaca is the main Venezuelan Christmas dinner dish and is considered to be Venezuela's national dish. Hallaca combines the indigenous bananas leaves, a rich Spanish filling of beef, chicken, pork, olives and vegetables, with aromatic African spices. Hallaca's origin is unclear. It is theorized that they could could have invented from the Spanish colonists homesickness for their tasty and elaborate meals. This is shown by the similarity between the Venezuelan's Hallaca and Spain's Empanada Gallega, a pasty from Galicia. The filling is basically similar, with maize substituting for flour and the banana leaf wrapping. The second theory of its origin was that Hallacas were created by the slaves during the colony times. They put the left-overs of their master's Christmas festivities in a bit of cornmeal dough, wrapped this with banana leaves and cooked to mix the flavors. Like many other things in Venezuela, the Hallaca was also influenced by many cultures: (1) the white Hallaca uses European ingredients like raisins, nuts and olives; (2) the native Hallaca uses cornmean and colored Onoto seeds; (3) black Hallaca is wrapped in banana leaves. The original Hallaca is made with meat, such as pork, poultry, beef, lard, crispy pork rind, etc and boiled eggs. Preparing and making Hallacas require a lot of time, however, in Venezuela, its preparation becomes a family event, a happy and festive event involving the whole family. It is said that Hallaca tastes much better when taken cold.
In Venezuela, Hallacas is considered a very special dish for Christmas. Almost all families before Christmas. The families share great times and enjoy eating Hallacas the whole month of December. It is a tradition to eat this dish on Christmas eve, which is like a Thanksgiving day in Venezuela.
Taken with Hallacas in the countryside is a drink called Ponche which the also prepare for the holidays. Ponche is a beverage made of milk, eggs, sugar, and alcohol. This beverage is enjoyed as an accompaniment of Hallacas on special days in December
Hallacas are also sometimes called Hallacas Venezolanas (Venezuelan Hallacas) or Hayacas.