Recipe of the Week - Carne Mechada
Tuesday May 9, 2006
Carne Mechada, from Venezuela, is a slow cooked, flavorful and tender beef entree that works well with rice and vegetables on the side, or as a filling for stuffing green peppers, tortillas, or however your imagination takes you.
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Comments
Having been to Venezuela and eaten carne mechada several times I can assure you that your recipe is about as far from authentic as it could be.
The Venezuelans make a very simple beef dish that uses garlic, Acjiote oil and their national favorite pepper, the aji dulee.
While there are always variations, I believe you would have to search far and wide to find anything near as complicated as you have proscribed here.
You also have nmae no mention of the fact that it is most commonly served with arepas, the national bread staple
I’m originally from Venezuela and was taken aback by this recipe. Carne Mechada literally means ‘pulled beef,’ after the way the meat is separated in fibers (mechar=to pull). There is no such a thing as a mechado sauce. The meat is first boiled, then pulled on longish strings, and then put on a pan and seasoned with Aji Dulce (a local small sweet pepper) tomatoes, onions, garlic and, depending on your taste, cumin. This is let to cook and absorb the flavors until the meat is very tender and fragrant. Although Carne Mechada can be eaten with arepas (a corn meal bread), the national dish sees this paired with white rice, black beans and fried plantains.