Dominican cuisine

For me favorite local dishes:
Sanchoco
Chivo
yucca fritters

Bob K

The local "norm" is white rice and red beans with meat (fried chicken, fried fish) and sometimes a small salad.  A bit too heavy on the rice and too heavy on the "fried" to be healthy.  Not really anything I would call a "specialty".  I think the specialties are more like sancocho, mofongo, fresh mariscos. 

Unfortunately I don't eat any seafood so I can't enjoy that aspect of things here.  My favorite thing is pastelon.

I love love love pastelon!!!!   With  ripe platanos.....  now I am hungry.

Dominican cooking is fairly  bland,  lots of white rice and beans as CJ says.  la bandera - white rice meat and beans with a small salad sometimes.  Yuck, no thanks.

San cocho is the national soup/stew if you will. Everyone has their own recipe I think.   We are also heavy on  starch  and simple carbs here which can be so bad for you as well as  lots of salt and oil and fried anything.....

One certainly has to make an effort to eat healthy here.

Bob K

Hi Priscilla dear, it has been a long time!

I personally don't get tired of the Mangú (smashed green plantain), something I really like a lot too is the way they prepare  here the Berenjena al horno ( Eggplant ) delicious. The casave (Yuka bread) is amazing as snack with black coffee. What about la batata (baked sweet potato), I can't forget to mention puré de auyama (smashed pumpkin). You can really eat very fresh and healthy here if you make the right choices.

Cheers.

In fact you have to eat the way normal people do when living in a country that is not your own. It is not a good idea to keep eating out in European style restaurants. First of all the Italian food is not Dutch, Chinese food is not Dutch (and not Chinese by the way) and so on. But second and more important, you will never blend in.

If I keep eating a mix of potatoes, unions and sausage or thick pea soup as we eat it in Holland I will never understand the taste of the Dominican people in whose country I am a guest.

True, the food here is a little bland, but rice and beans with a good peace of meat, just add a little salt to the beans and mix it all well on your plate. Add some fresh vegetables for taste! (Never put more salt on the rice on your plate, it is too late for that).

San Cocho, I love it but please leave out the rice and add some potatoes to the other roots and tubers that are part of the soup. Take care to get the meat to your taste before you put it in the pot to stew, with salt, pepper and whatever you like. Rub the salt, pepper and herbs into the meat and fry it for just a few moments. That will seal the meat and leave all the good juices inside. Your stew will be fingerlicking good.

A buen tiempo

Marinus

Welcome to the forums MK,  good points made!   As for blending in.........we really  can't but we try.....LOL

MK welcome. We make our san Cocho with out the rice and do use potatoes instead.

You make some good points on how and when to season as many good cooks know and sadly many do not

Bob K

I had a good mother who thought all of us should learn how to cook, not just the girls.
Seasoning needs time is the trick.