Coming from a coastal town in an area defined as “Tropical Desert Forest” my first visit to Constanza in my early teens came as a real shock. Geographically and climate-wise you would have a hard time finding two places so different and still located on the same small island. To my 13 (or 12?, can’t
{ 16 comments }
Valentines Day is approaching, as the media keeps on relentlessly reminding me. I’ve also been told that my husband can apparently only prove his love by showering me with gifts of flowers, perfumes, sparkly stones and other mostly-useless objects. But we are an odd couple, we are. In the 15 years or so that we’ve
{ 13 comments }
“These extra pounds have to go!” I exclaim looking at myself in the mirror. Normally this would not be much of a problem if it wasn’t because I was in the middle of the holidays. Ah, the holidays. Time to overeat, overindulge, and find excuses. Not that I have anything against it, on the contrary,
{ 3 comments }
I always wondered how the parents’ occupations influence their kids future career choices. In my case my own parents’ choices (teacher/principal and accountant) are what I call my “nightmare careers”. Trust me, I know the world needs accountants and, even more, it needs teachers, but I have neither the talent nor the inclination for these. It
{ 2 comments }
Have you ever heard of the word “scrumping”? No? You’re not alone. As it happens, neither have most of the world’s non-British English speakers, as far as I could find. And when they have, most of them think of a completely different activity than the one in the minds of Brits. Allow me to explain
{ 4 comments }
There is an enormous variety of pumpkins, but in the Dominican Republic the best known is the auyama (West Indian pumpkin). A vegetable that has many uses in our cuisine: from desserts to rice dishes, from food coloring to filler in stews. This is a less-common presentation, but no less delicious. Auyama is recommended as
{ 1 comment }
Every nation has its rules about what goes and what doesn’t when it comes to gastronomy. Coffee here as we know is drunk sweeter than sweet. Those of us who decline any sugar at all are considered eccentric at best. In the same way as Italians who react with horror at ignorant foreigners who flout
{ 1 comment }
Lost in translation: It isn’t only an acclaimed movie that I could not bring myself to like. The language barrier is one of the biggest problems we have when writing articles, and even more so when developing and writing recipes. Not only do you have two people here who speak different variants of English, and
{ 20 comments }
A popular item in the Dominican diet which is not always everyone’s favourite is the papaya, known in the DR as ‘lechoza’. Several countries in the region seem to shy away from the word papaya, which has – it appears – other connotations. Venezuelans also call it ‘lechoza’, and the Cubans ‘fruta bomba’. In English
{ 5 comments }
Things are changing around here, most of the changes are in the background, but they slowly start showing. Switching from our old platform to our new blog format is something that we discussed, and something I (Aunt Clara) particularly thought pretty hard about. Our old format served us well for many years, but things needed
{ 9 comments }
After a few days in which our very hot summer gave way to intense and seemingly-random rain, we are back to sunlight and hot days. Fortunately we Dominicans have a few weapons in our arsenal to help us survive the heat. Fermented drinks are not uncommon in the Dominican Republic, I would dare to say
{ 1 comment }
For the last 3 days it has been raining in our corner of the world. Does anyone have the number for a good ark builder? Luckily it hasn’t been raining non-stop, something we have experienced in the past, but the sun hasn’t been out that much lately. Up to some point it is a nice
{ 4 comments }
For the last few days my family and I have been in Europe, Denmark more specifically, as we visit relatives and catch up with what’s new since our last visit. Although May is not our time of choice to visit (still a bit too cold for our taste), at least we got here in time
{ 13 comments }
Oh, how time flies my friends! Today we finally change the very last of the tiny, lo-res pictures we used in the first version of this site, made with a 3 mp camera in the kitchen of my old apartment. Time flies and so does technology. When I first started this site, as a way
{ 12 comments }
Life moves in circles, doesn’t it? And never is this more evident than when you have kids, and one day you look at yourself in the mirror and your mother (or father) stares back at you, while that kid loudly demanding your attention reminds you of that child that used to look at you from
{ 8 comments }
Sometimes I think we should change the name of our site to Dominican Cake and Other Recipes. A good percentage of the people who come to our site do it because they are searching for this recipe, this recipe generates more questions than any other, and it’s the one that seems to give most people
{ 14 comments }
Yesterday I was talking on the phone with Sagrario from the magazine Vainilla y Azafrán (@VanillayAzafran) about the changes in the ways people learn how to cook these days, specifically the ways they learn to cook our food. Whereas a couple of generations back most Dominicans learned how to cook from their moms, aunts and
{ 9 comments }
It may surprise you that my favorite part of keeping these sites is not trying all the yummy dishes that I write about. Sure I like cooking, and I like eating what I cook, I also love writing about food and our adventures with it, but most of all I like making pictures of food.
{ 2 comments }
I have always wondered why some of our dishes have been relegated to obscurity. Perhaps is the humble provenance of those dishes, something we have written about before, that keeps them away from the refined table. Maybe it’s time the revolution reached the cupboards. Jalao is one such humble dish that still languishes as colmado
{ 14 comments }
At first glance this childhood favorite might not seem a good fit as a recipe for our Two Weeks of Valentine. Maybe if you give it a second glance you’ll see how it totally is. These lollipops were kids’ favorites a couple of decades back, although they didn’t seem to be so common in my
{ 29 comments }
It’s always summer in the Dominican Republic. I know that it is not literally so, and that, much as we’d like to pretend they don’t, the laws of nature also apply to our two-thirds of an island, but for all practical purposes it’s always summer in the DR. For some living on the upper half
{ 15 comments }
Volumes can be written about this cake, and have in fact already been written (check our forums). This cake seems to be the ultimate test for the expert Dominican cook, and however daunting, and confusing the instructions might look to the novice cook, let me assure you, if you follow the instructions carefully you will
{ 149 comments }
These biscuits are very popular in the Dominican Republic. You can walk to any colmado (corner store) and you will in all likelihood find them. Its preparation is easy and it is a sure-bet with kids. If yours turn out flatter, don’t fret, that’s exactly how the store-bought ones look. Time: 1 hr. Serves: 4
{ 17 comments }
This recipe, inherited from the Spaniards and common in all Latin America also deserved to be in our collection. La Profesora, one of our forum regulars submitted the recipe. Time: 1 hr. Serves: 4 Before starting to cook: Heat oven to 400 F (200 C) Ingredients: 8 egg yolks 2.5 cups evaporated milk 2.5 cups
{ 30 comments }
Habichuelas con dulce is one of Dominican’s most cherished traditions. It is prepared in large quantities during Lent, and shared with relatives and neighbors. One of the good things about habichuelas con dulce is that no two homes prepare it exactly the same way, it is also a very forgiving dish that even the beginner
{ 63 comments }
A delicious and hearty beverage, very nutritious and easy to prepare, it makes a perfect for breakfast for school-aged children. You may adjust sugar to your own taste. Time: 20 mins. Serves: 4 Before starting to cook: Soak the oatmeal in the water for about an hour. Ingredients: 1/2 cup of sugar 2 cups of
{ 3 comments }
“Gooooffffffiooo!”, scream the kids with their mouth full of this sweet powder, covering their unsuspecting friends with one of Dominican children’s traditional snacks. This recipe is originally prepared using dry corn grain that would be ground in a big mortar, in this version we will use regular medium-grain cornmeal. Time: 1 …
{ 8 comments }
Did you know that both Cuba and Puerto Rico also have a dessert called majarete? Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico have more in common than all three realize, which leads to the occasional foolish accusation born out of ignorance (my own included) that one is appropriating the culture of another. We are here
{ 7 comments }
We Dominicans did not come up with the idea of bread pudding, it seems to be a near-universal dish, but like everything in our cuisine we gave it our own touch and added a ton of flavor. With a great combination of spices (how can you go wrong with ginger?) and a soft chewy texture
{ 4 comments }
Arepa is a special dessert that is traditionally prepared in an iron pot on top of red-hot coal. A metal lid is placed on top of the pot and then more coal is put on top of the lid. This led to the expression “como la Arepa, fuego por arriba y fuego …
{ 6 comments }
Aunt Clara's Kitchen is a collection of traditional Dominican recipes, recipes inspired by Dominican flavors, as well as the chronicles of the Aunties' adventures in the kitchen and outside.
