I’ve mentioned this many, many times: For such a small country this one has so many regional variations in its cuisine that it’s entirely possible to reach adulthood without trying something that is a staple on the other side of the country. Meet exhibit one: Aunt Clara. I was born in the northwest of the Dominican
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This past week one half of our family gathered at a local resort as we do almost every year. It is a time for relaxation, catching up, and on the practical side of things getting everybody together under the same roof, so to speak. We hope some day we’ll have a home large enough to
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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
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It happened in the summer of 1993. It wasn’t a difficult decision. It was always uncomfortable around the table in the company’s cafeteria. I had already developed a reputation for being picky, people had suspicions. The real challenge came when we were sitting for our Christmas dinner, as my mom cut me a piece of
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Today is our last day in Denmark, tomorrow we start the long trip home, and even though I miss my country’s food it is not less true that one of the reasons why I enjoy my visits to Denmark has to do with food. Good food. My in-laws are restauranteurs and hoteliers, which means that
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You say potatoes, I say pugh! I never quite liked potatoes… Give me a second, allow me to correct that: I always hated potatoes. I blame that in part to our culture; potatoes are hardly an important part of Dominican cuisine, they are mostly used as an ingredient in stews and soups. It doesn’t help
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One of the things we Dominicans are most grateful for is to have discovered aubergines (scientific name: solanum melongena) as a daily staple. Aubergines or eggplants are delicious, versatile and cheap. They grow all year round and complement every dish. They are fondly known as “the poor person’s meat”. Aubergines are in …
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This is a delicious recipe that can very well make your breakfast a unique one. It is very easy to prepare, even the least experienced cook can make this successfully. For people on carb-restricted diets this is a great choice as a side dish, it is filling, tasteful and very low on calories too. Give
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Okra (also known as gumbo or ladyfingers) is a well-known vegetable worldwide. It is used in dishes from Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean. It is the main ingredients in the Gulf coast gumbo and the Trinidadian callaloo. The Dominican Republic is one of those countries where okra is a part of the local cuisine. In
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Stop at any roadside eatery in the Dominican Republic and you can order this popular side dish. In fact it always reminds me of road trips and informal meals. Nothing like toping some tender guineítos with sauteed onions and peppers to make them even better-tasting. If you always though of bananas as just a fruit
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By adding this simple and delicious recipe to our collection we want to do more than just share the pleasures of this dish, this is also a plea to help save our national tree: the Royal Palm tree (palma real). Ingredients: 2 lbs. of heart of palm diced into large pieces 2 tablespoons of oil
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We’ve all heard about the Mediterranean diet, held up as one of the healthiest eating regimes the world has known. Just as beneficial but not so well known is – you guessed it – the Dominican diet. Or did you? At first glance Dominican eating does not hit you in the face as the healthiest
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There can’t be in the Dominican cuisine any other dish that combines so well simplicity of preparation, popularity and exotic flavor. This popular dish is popular in Cuba and Puerto Rico too, where they are known as maduros. This is served as a side dish to lunch or dinner, another way in which we Dominicans
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Do you remember the saying “we’re all unique”? You need to know other cultures to understand and appreciate your own. This is a lesson that has taken me years to learn, and by learning about other countries’ foods I have understood ours better, and what makes it unique, even if ultimately it is something that
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Practically every country on earth has a version of potato salad, but did you know where “our” Russian salad originated? I bet you won’t guess in a million years. Well, what do you know. It did come from Russia, of all places! The original “Russian salad” was created by the chef Laurence Olivier who worked
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When you are a kid you tend to believe everything you read. When I was a little kid I thought that all English ladies went picnicking once or twice a week and that they all wore long flowery dresses and big floppy hats or fascinators, sat on red and white-checkered tablecloths and sipped tea under
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A very simple recipe that can either be served as an appetizer or as a side dish. If you serve it as an appetizer consider serving them with the dip of your choice (the yuca fritters go very well with mayo or tartar sauce). Time: 20 mins. Serves: 4 Before starting to cook: No previous
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When vegetarianism was not so common, parents like me used to be accused of imposing an unconventional diet on their children, sometimes to the extent that it was believed to be a form of neglect. But don’t most parents impose some sort of belief system on their children, and don’t usually let them decide for
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The other day I happened to meet a former employee at the Dominican embassy in Paris who told me that our sister site Cocina Dominicana played a very useful role in their diplomatic duties in the French capital. “Whenever we held a reception”, she said, “we wanted to serve food that was typically Dominican, but there was
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This is the dish that symbolizes Christmas. Traditionally cooked “en puya”, that is crossed with a stick over a rotating base and cooked over coal-fire. We present here a recipe that can be prepared using a regular oven. Puerco asado (Pork roast) Prep Time: 6 hoursCook Time: 3 hoursTotal Time: 9 hours Yield: 18 generous
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Arañitas, “little spiders” in Spanish, is a treat for every special meal. You can use these as a side dish or as ‘munchies’. The difference in these two side dishes is what side of the grater you use. The arañitas should have lots of cassava threads sticking out in all directions, thus the “spidery” look!
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Julia Alvarez, a Dominican and one of my favourite writers, once wrote that as a child in Santo Domingo the first thing anyone would ask when she or one of her sisters complained of a stomach-ache, was ‘did you eat anything in the street?’* Dominican street food has a bad image. As it’s often unhygienic and sometimes
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“Dominicans will eat ANYTHING for breakfast” observed a friend from a European country which shall remain nameless, to protect the guilty. He was watching his Dominican wife tuck into a bowl of soup at the breakfast table. It is true that Dominicans do have some breakfast preferences that to foreign eyes sometimes appear a little
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I have read with a smile on my face the many stories told by our readers that have found our sites useful when introducing their foreign spouses to Dominican food or that want to learn about Dominican cooking to the delight of their Dominican spouses. I must confess now that our website has helped me
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“El platano embrutece”. I recently heard this saying for the first time, but apparently it’s common amongst Dominicans. It means that eating plantains is associated with intellectual inferiority. The popular extension of this myth is that children who eat corn flakes are more intelligent than those who eat mangú. Could this be true? What lies
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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.
