Ayaca

Ayaca is Aruba's great Christmas dish, a labour-of-love parcel made by families in the weeks before the holidays. A soft, seasoned cornmeal dough is spread on a banana leaf, topped with a rich filling of spiced stewed meat, and studded with olives, capers, raisins, prunes, and sometimes a strip of sweet pepper, then folded into a neat packet, tied, and steamed or boiled until set.

The filling is where the celebration shows. Chicken, pork, or beef is stewed with onion, garlic, tomato, and warm seasoning, and the sweet-and-salty additions of raisins, olives, and capers echo the same balance found in keshi yena. Unwrapping a steaming ayaca releases the fragrance of the banana leaf and the spiced meat, which is a large part of its appeal. Making ayaca is a communal effort, with families gathering to assemble dozens at a time, so the dish is as much about togetherness as taste.

A dish for the holidays

Ayaca is firmly a Christmas-season food rather than an everyday plate. It appears on festive tables through December and into the New Year, and it is given between households as a holiday gesture.

• The banana-leaf wrap is essential, perfuming the dough and meat as it steams.
• If you visit around the Dande season and Christmas, ask whether any local kitchen is serving it, as it is rarely on standard menus.

If you are on the island over the holidays, an ayaca is a special taste of how Aruban families celebrate Christmas, fragrant, festive, and made with care.