Welcome to my new A-Z …World Cuisines…where I will be looking at the countries of the world, their food and national dish or their most popular dish around the world…by this I mean some dishes are eaten in many countries as their fame has spread around the world…I have Chel to thank for giving me some ideas from which this one took shape…Thank you Chel x

Today I am looking at the cuisine of the Dominican Republic…

Dominican cuisine is made up of Spanish, indigenous Taíno, Middle-Eastern and African influences. The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominicana) is a country on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola; the other country on the island is Haiti. Its capital, and largest city, is Santo Domingo. The national language is Spanish.

In 2018, and once again in 2019, the city of Santo Domingo was named a Culinary Capital of the Caribbean by the Ibero-American Academy of Gastronomy. This honour not only recognizes the quality of Dominican food but also highlights the importance of traditional recipes as an essential part of the nation’s culture.

Rice is the main staple of Dominican cuisine. There are a great number of Dominican rice dishes, but none more common, or more important than Arroz Blanco.

Arroz Blanco…means cooked rice… is the base of Dominican lunch menus, one of the components of La Bandera Dominicana. The perfect Arroz Blanco is proof of expertise for any Dominican cook…with the perfect “Concón” If you are not Dominican and have never lived in the Dominican Republic, you will probably not understand the passion that Dominicans feel for concón…Concón is the crust of crispy rice formed at the bottom of the pot when you cook rice Dominican-style. Concón is not a dish in itself, just a byproduct of the cooking method used to make rice.

For a Dominican, rice day is any day that ends in y, and rice and beans are much more than just food, they are part of the cultural heritage… There is a saying…” no hay Comida sin Arroz” (there’s no lunch without rice).

Many more rice dishes are made and enjoyed by Dominicans, including Dominican yellow rice (which varies from home to home), chofán (Dominican fried rice with peas, carrot, celery, meat, etc.), Arroz con fideos (Dominican rice with fried noodles), and others.

A very popular rice-based drink: Pera piña, a popular drink with children that combines rice and pineapple or sometimes pears…for the adults, there is always Tepache…a homemade fermented drink…Cheers!

Sancocho is a stew with seven types of meat...yes seven…

Sancocho, one of the nation’s most typical dishes, is served at parties and special occasions such as New Year’s. This thick stew is made with several ingredients: meat, vegetables, tubers and condiments. It is always served with white rice and sliced avocado, but like any traditional dish, there are different versions.

“Classic” sancocho is made with several types of tubers and other edible plants grown in the Dominican Republic, such as yam, squash, malanga (yautia) and yucca. Other ingredients include diced corn on the cob, garlic, lemon juice, green plantain, cilantro, oregano, salt, oil and more. It can be whitish if made only with chicken, or dark-coloured when several types of plantain are added along with beef, goat and pork. Another variant is sancocho with green pigeon peas or red beans. Finally, there is the pièce de résistance: sancocho de siete Carnes (seven-meat stew), which has chicken, pork, beef, goat, Creole chicken, smoked ribs and chops, and longaniza sausage.

The most famous and traditional dish is la Bandera Dominicana (the Dominican flag). It has three basic ingredients—white rice, red beans and stewed meat (chicken or beef)—served as the foundation, to which all types of “side dishes” are added, such as avocado, tostones (flattened fried plantain), green salad with tomato, or cooked eggplant stew, to name a few.

La Bandera is the meal that is eaten the most often in Dominican homes and also appears on the set menu of many local restaurants. In line with its name, this dish is inspired by the national flag: the rice is white, the beans are red and the meat (with a bit of imagination) is blue.

Another traditional Dominican dish is mangú, which is simply mashed green plantains. The preparation is just as basic: boil or stew the plantains in salted water, and then mash them with a bit of oil or butter, and a trickle of water if necessary, creating a smooth purée with no lumps. Mangú is usually topped with red onion sautéed in oil and vinegar…but sometimes with strips of meat or prawns…

I love blogging and learning and sharing what comes with it…Dolly from koolkosherkitchen.wordpress.com shared this post with me…a post which shared the history behind “Mangu” and the little island that fought…Thank you, Dolly for sharing this with us xxx

I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour of the Cuisine of the Dominican Republic…where the food is very traditional…as always I look forward to your comments…x