[MaikaMatos]

Saludos

I was born in PR to Dominican parents, and lived a number of years in the Dominican Republic until my family moved to Queens, NY, in my 13th year. I learned how to cook after getting married (mom would run us out of the kitchen when she was cooking) and my mom shared some of her recipes with me.

I was thrilled to find your website after doing a google search for "dominican food." I purchased a couple of cookbooks from your website, one in English and one in Spanish. I'm especially glad to read the discussions answering questions about cooking terms, etc. So I thought I would ask my question hoping that someone can clarify this for me.

In a Quipe recipe in the dominican cooking in Spanish ("La Cocina Dominicana" por Maria Ramirez de Carias), it calls for hierbabuena. I asked my mom what hierbabuena was and she said it was Mint. In the Aunt Clara's cookbook in English it uses Basil. I'm a little bit confused as to what Hierbabuena is exactly. Do some cooks use mint and some use basil?

Thank you so much for your help.

Maika

[Aunt Ilana]

Welcome Maika!

It is mint, your mother is right - aren't we always?
I would put the difference down to variations on the same recipe, according to family tradition and preference. Quipe is a middle eastern dish originally and a lot of mint is traditionally used in middle eastern cooking. Basil instead of mint may be a more recent variation/adaptation.
E.g. another middle eastern standard, tabouleh, is found in the DR under the name tipile. In the middle east, this dish is always made with lavish amounts of mint and parsley. The DR version only has parsley.

[MaikaMatos]

Thank you so much for clarifying this for me.

I have eaten Tipili and love how refreshing it is. My husband loves it also (he is American). I had to ask Mami for that recipe also.

I'm really glad to have found your website.

Maika