Hotcakes, hallacas, oatmeal empanadas and European-origin dishes share meal tables in Venezuela with luring flavors, colors and aromas of their own.

The fusion of indigenous, African and European civilizations, whose roots intertwine in this South American country, is seen in its cuisine better than in any other field. Each and every region of the nation has distinctive features to call their own, no matter whether corn, cassava, plantains, root veggies, meats or seafood is the main dish of choice.

From an assortment of the most representative recipes, the so-called pabellon criollo, hotcakes and hallacas are high on the list. Pabellon is a perfect combination of color and flavor based on white rice, stuffed meat, black beans and fried plantains.

Hotcakes, for their part, are considered by Venezuelans a genuine example of national cuisine. Its ancestral origins hark back to pre-Hispanic America and it's served in all homes, from the humblest to the richest ones.

Hotcakes are nothing but tarts made of oatmeal that many in that country hail as a good, calorie-rich breakfast when served with cheese or butter. The shape varies depending on the region. Up in the Andean mountains, for instance, the dough is very thin, yet it's thicker in central Venezuela and much bigger in the east. Residents in the eastern part of the country make it crispy and sweet, with a pinch of anise in it.

Regardless of the location, though, hotcakes stuffed with cheese, meat, ham, sausages or vegetables are simply irresistible.

The same dough that's used to make hotcakes comes handy for a variety of other dishes, such as buns, hallaquitas, cheese-filled empanadas and others stuffed with meat, chicken or stewed fish, and fried in piping-hot cooking oil.

HALLACAS For many experts, hallacas are penciled in as some kind of resume of Venezuela's social and historical evolution. The distinctive token in each and every hallaca is the dough of corn flour and the banana leaves used to wrap them up, two signs that give away its aboriginal background from the times of Indians and African slaves. Fillings (hen meat, pork, beef, olives, prunes, raisins or caper brought in by the Spanish colonizers) is the name of the game.

The word hallaca is the focus of a controversy that's pitting those who believe it comes from the Guarani term ayua or ayuar, meaning mixing or stirring, against the ones that think it's linked to an expression found in an aboriginal tongue spoken in western Venezuela that means wrapping.

Hallacas –in other American countries are known as tamales- are a must during the holiday season. Preparation is complex and divided in three stages that must be followed to the letter: the making of the stew, the kneading of the dough (it includes having the banana leaves ready) and the cooking process.

Last but not least, the long list of Venezuela's homemade desserts includes hundreds of recipes that have been handed down from one generation to the next.

Beginning with majarete (made of corn cream), the Venezuelan cuisine counts on countless pastries and sweets like quesillos (custards) made of pineapple, guava, orange and coconut. Syrup-dipped delicacies made of such great-tasting tropical fruits as papayas, mangos, guavas, oranges and mamey just melt in your mouth, while buns (balls of cassava dough fried in cooking oil and served dipped in syrup) are yummy, yummy, yummy!