Guasacaca. Green creamy salsa. Venezuelan staple sauce. Sauce recipe.

What is Guasacaca? Which is the Venezuelan sauce?: El Papá de las Salsas. La Guasacaca.

The Guasacaca is Venezuela's staple sauce and dressing for stakes, chicken, and shrimp, empanadas (a never miss), and it is also used as a dressing for a “Ensalada (salad) de Guasacaca”.

It is a creamy sauce, a little tangy, with not overpowering flavors. If it is of your choice you could add some spice to it too.

When classifying the sauces, we were planning to write about, we realized that you could classify sauces as follow:

1.      Aio li based

2.      Oil based

3.      Vinegar based

4.      Water based

5.      Dairy based

Nevertheless, Guasacaca does not fit into any of those categories, mainly because it has a great balance of all ingredients, not letting you to possibly classify it into a box.  It has oil, but it is not oily nor grease; it does have vinegar, but it is not a pickle type of sauce. It does have water, but it is not a plainly vegetable sauce.  It is the “Dad of sauces” … El Papá de las Salsas.

So, if you want to prepare something special and give a nice new experience to your guest or honoree, prepare this unique and fabulous recipe, and be ready to enjoy something different.

How is Guasacaca made? The Guasacaca recipe.

Avocado	100%	400g
Cilantro	10%	40g
Garlic	5%	20g
Onion	38%	150g
Green bell pepper	38%	150g
Corn oil	25%	100g
Vinegar	13%	50g
Salt	2%	6g
Black pepper corn	0.5%	1.5g
Poblano peppers	6%	25g

How to prepare Guasacaca?

This is the part where things get really tricky. And the answer will really depend on the cook’s preference, regarding the final result and the uses he/she wants it for.

For instance, if you want Guasacaca to dressing your dish sides (steam yuca, boil green plantains) or to add it to your Empanadas, you might want it as liquid as possible.  So, you’ll go for the blender plus adding a bit more vinegar and oil.  Easy, fast and convenient.

On the other hand, if what you need is a dipping sauce for chips, or if you prefer a thicker consistency at your empanadas sauce, go for the blender -again- and prepare a mix.  Then -in a bowl aside- smash the avocados with a fork, to add them to the mix you previously made.

Last but not least, if you would like a salad instead of a sauce, have a Guasacaca salad!  Chop all the ingredients mentioned above into small pieces, add tomatoes, more onion, and you will get one of the most delicious and freshest salad you’ll ever taste!  

Thus, Guasacaca can be used at your cocktail party as a sauce for your empanadas or tequeños.  You may also give yourself a chance to shine using Guasacaca for dressing the yuca side or the steak/chicken, or “just” as a salad to go with a barbecue.

Please also keep in mind that you could try a spicy guasacaca, or simple have it mild. For such, you could play with the garlic and onions to have it from sweet to mild, or you could also add, as in our recipe, a poblano jalapeño to taste.

Don’t forget to use the avocado pit! It is one of those traditions, that became an urban legend… In order to avoiding the guasacaca to get spoiled or brown, keep it with the pit inside.

What are we looking for in the Venezuelan Guasacaca sauce?

We look for a green, fresh and light, fun to eat sauce to add to most of dishes, especially when eating steak, chicken, yuca, or finger food appetizers such as empanadas and tequeños.

Guasacaca is usually mild flavor sauce. And the spice in it should be given by the garlic and black pepper corn, with tangy flavor from vinegar, but not overpowering to pickle the sauce.

Trick and tips for authentic Venezuelan Guasacaca sauce?

There is so little that could go wrong while preparing the guasacaca, that we’ll give you a couple of tricks and a surprise.

Don’t over blend it. If you leave it to long on the blender, ingredients tend not to hold and heat from blender will spoil the sauce. Therefore, chop all ingredients as much as desire and possible, so the blending machine just liquefies the sauce.

Garlic, not just peel the garlic, but also remove the inner root if it does have any.

If available use the cilantro roots. Yes, the roots of the cilantro provide a deep great flavor to every cilantro recipe. Clean it and mince it very well, and don’t be afraid. It will be outstanding.

Keep it fresh: fresher ingredients the better, keep it always cool and refrigerated, and when serving, remember keep an avocado pit in it.

Enjoy the Venezuelan staple sauce. El papá de las Salsas: La Guasacaca.