Cooking with rum is not unfamiliar to Dominicans, totally the opposite actually. Some of the dishes that may be cooked with rum are rabo encendido and chivo liniero (each family has its own recipe and lore about these dishes). With a wide variety of world-class rum available at reasonable prices here, it is no surprise
{ 2 comments }
We once took a poll amongst our readers called “Mondongo: Yucky or Yummy?”, which sparked in me some reflection. My money was on a landslide victory for the Yuckies. I admit it, I voted more than once, in order to better register my enormous dislike. The Yuckies lost. By a lot. For those innocently unaware,
{ 15 comments }
I am the grandchild of farmers, and so is my husband. If you can count on anything it is on farmers being sensible people. They are rarely too picky about their food, after all they know full well that pork does not come cut into slices or vacuum-packed, and that chicken is not made of thighs
{ 18 comments }
A few of our readers have commented that they are intimidated by their oven, and sometimes don’t know how to use it. This is a perfect dish to start practicing your skills, it is almost foolproof. Originally I had no intention of sharing this in our blog, but when I saw how just nice it
{ 1 comment }
This story started like many others before: with the need to write a recipe and take pictures, and a husband befuddled by the introduction of yet another “suspicious” Dominican dish. – “Honey, what are you cooking”. – “Something you’ve never eaten before”. – “I can see that, but, what is it?” – “Salami guisado” –
{ 12 comments }
Yesterday I got the call from school that every parent dreads: the school doctor told me Nadia had fallen in the playground. Before I went into full panic mode, and with a swiftness that I suppose comes from either training in handling freaked-out parents, or the experience of doing so, she informed me that other
{ 8 comments }
Every culture’s cuisine has dishes that are supposed to have aphrodisiac properties. These dishes range from the harmless to the frankly bizarre. Luckily the dishes in our cuisine alleged to help one’s amorous skills are a pleasure to eat just for the sake of delicious foods. This is one of those dishes. Other Dominican dishes
{ 6 comments }
Sometimes the day finishes and I look back and ask myself “where did the hours go?”. It suddenly seems as if I got hit on the head and could not account for all the hours in my day. Then I wish my days had at least 12 more hours. I am sure I am not
{ 12 comments }
Sometimes feedback is a strange thing. I was pretty sure that this was going to be one of those recipes that people take a look at, shrug and quickly forget. While this is a popular dish in the Dominican Republic (although not a common one, it takes time to prepare it, so it’s only served on special occasions),
{ 4 comments }
“Jamaican” you said? Yes, and this would not be the first time we write about Jamaican cuisine, or the [counts fingers] er… many times we have written about other Caribbean cuisines. One of the best ways to learn more about your own culture is to study that of your neighbors. Not surprisingly Caribbean cuisines have
{ 7 comments }
I love cooking, and I love reading about food. Imagine how giddy with glee I was when I was invited by Mizkan to participate in a 6-month long cooking challenge along with many talented Latino bloggers. Today I bring you the first of these cooking challenges: Latino-inspired grilling, sponsored by Holland House Wine Vinegars. Now,
{ 6 comments }
Confession time: I was sorely tempted to start this post with a tawdry joke about a butcher, a housewife and beef tongue. For this I have nobody to blame but Aunt Ilana’s husband, Pedro. Luckily, and for the sake of the children that visit our site, the joke would be lost in translation. Phew! Will
{ 2 comments }
A few weeks back Aunt Ilana and I were invited by the Ministry of Culture to participate in an exchange with the public about traditional Dominican cooking. It turned out to be a fantastic experience. Some of the people who attended were friends and readers of our sites. At the end of the conference I
{ 12 comments }
A little while ago I posted the recipe for carne ripiada (shredded beef) and had an exchange with our friend Amity, who has spent a lot of time both in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. I mentioned that unlike Venezuela, where carne ripiada is known as carne mechada, in the Dominican Republic carne mechada was
{ 7 comments }
Smoked herrings is one of those ingredients that, although arrived from faraway lands, seems to be an essential part of our cuisine. It’s funny that in the area of the world where it should be best-known I have never found anyone that actually knew it. As fish is my basic source of protein – since
{ 5 comments }
This dish, with some variations, is known throughout Latin America with many different names. The base is an inexpensive cut of beef (flank, for example), cooked over low heat for a long time until it becomes very tender. Some vegetables are also added to the mix. The Dominican carne ripiada is pretty close to its
{ 13 comments }
Growing up I thought that nearly everybody made meatballs the same way we did, and although it’s not like I’ve become an expert on meatballs (or anything for that matter), I have found out that our meatballs are uniquely ours. Thanks to the Viking superstore, masses of Dominicans have tried the world-famous Swedish ones, and
{ 12 comments }
Now and then you come across food snobs who make a distinction between ‘haute cuisine’ delicacies and what they consider to be comida de pobre, inferior foods. This is usually connected to social class and custom, and almost always with economic necessity. As time goes by many of these distinctions have become blurred. Dominicans have
{ 9 comments }
So you have guests, and you want to impress them with your mad cooking skills, but you don’t want to go out hunting for fancy, exotic ingredients. Few dishes seem to impress people more than a meat roast, it looks like the kind of thing one ought to eat at a restaurant, but fear not,
{ 9 comments }
Students from humble economic backgrounds who attended public rural schools in the 70s are probably most familiar with this recipe. According to my sources, school cooks often served this dish with bulgur instead of rice because schools received large donations of bulgur from the relief agency USAID. This is a variation of our locrio (rice
{ 3 comments }
This is a simple and exotic recipe, perfect for a summer lunch. This recipe was submitted by Sade, one of our regulars. Like all other savory recipes in our site that contain coconut, this too comes from beautiful Samana. Time: 25 mins. Serves: 4 Ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs of crab meat 2 cups of coconut
{ 0 comments }
This is a dish that reminds me of trips to faraway coastal towns, restaurants overlooking the beach and lazy afternoons. It reminds me of inexpensive but surprisingly satisfying meals. Of cold beers and cool breezes blowing across my sand-covered bare feet. Some of the good things in life need not be complicated. This is one of those
{ 5 comments }
Pescado Guisado is a delicious recipe that is not only healthy but also very nutritional. It is easy to prepare, every Dominican cook knows how, go ahead and add that authentic touch to your Dominican meal. Time: 25 mins. Serves: 4 Ingredients: 2 lbs of sea bass (or similar fish) 2 green bell peppers 1/2
{ 5 comments }
Since the dawn of time, people have associated certain foods, fruit and vegetables with sex. The ancient Greeks and Romans who were famous for their bacchanals and orgies even had treatises and writings about the effects of various foods on their libidos. Some of these beliefs, whether true or not, endure to this day. There
{ 2 comments }
Let me start by warning you that liver is verboten in this home, I even had to wait until my husband was out of the country to test this recipe. Since I needed some “testers”, I drafted Lucas (Aunt Ilana’s 10-year old son) and Nadia (my five-year old). They ate it all, and if you
{ 0 comments }
Turkey in the Dominican Republic is synonymous with Christmas, but as the supermarkets here usually stock it outside of the Christmas season, I have prepared it in the way most meats are prepared here. The usual complain about turkey being too dry needs not apply. Time: 45 mins. Serves: 4 Before starting to cook: …
{ 1 comment }
Visitors who come to the Dominican Republic, especially those who come for a ‘holiday in the sun’ often arrive equipped with little background information about the country, its history and its culture. North Americans and Europeans, who make up the majority of these tourists, will have had exposure to Mexican cooking as their only example
{ 3 comments }
In a slight but not complete departure from Dominican themes this week, we explore the delights of food in the movies. This article is part of the build-up to our forthcoming ‘World Cuisine’ section on the Dominican Cooking sites. More about this soon. There are some movies one should never go to see on an
{ 2 comments }
Salted codfish is known as a food in most of the Caribbean, probably brought by sailors who used this method of preservation to transport fish from across the ocean, making it popular across the Caribbean islands. Back in the days when the Catholic church mandated its followers to abstain from meat on Fridays this dish
{ 5 comments }
Res Guisada is one of the components of the traditional Dominican meal: La Bandera Dominicana (The Dominican Flag). Since it is part of the every-day lunch it is usually prepare with tougher (cheaper) cuts of meat. Its preparation is a bit long, and since the meat has to become soft by …
{ 8 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.
