There are only two things you must LOVE TO EAT in order to survive the Typical Dominican Cuisine.
You must love RICE.
You must adore BEANS.
And that's it.
Believe me, I've lived in the D.R. for 7 years.
Dominican food is tasty, hearty and very basic. It's based on lunch, almuerzo. This is the single most important meal of the day. If a Dominican gets a good, hot, well-cooked lunch, he will be satisfied. All cooking activity and focus is on the lunch. And it needs to be a lot, and at 12:00 noon sharp.
The typical almuerzo, also called "La Bandera" consists of 4 basic elements:
- Rice
- Beans
- Meat
- Salad
Now the rice and beans are very important.
It can be white rice =arroz blanco (always cooked with salt and oil) and must be flaky and grainy, not too mushy. It can be rice & beans mixed =moro. It can be yellow rice =arroz amarillo. It can be rice with corn =arroz con maiz. It can be rice with vegetables =arroz con vegetales.
The beans =habichuela are usually red beans cooked with spices and vinegar, kind of like a half-soup, served in a little pot on the side. But they can be black or white beans, too, or lentils.
The meat is usually stewed =guisado, using basic spices, in a little sauce. The favorite is chicken, then pork or beef. These are all cooked in the same way, with onions, peppers, garlic, some oregano, vinegar and stock. If you're lucky, you'll get stewed goat=chivo guisado which is really delicious! As alternative, you'll have fried chicken, fried pork chops or fried or stewed fish.
The salad is usually grated white cabbage with some lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber.
Some nice add-ons would be:
- Sweet fried plantains (large bananas) on the side.
- Ensalada mixta which is like a Russian salad.
- Pasta-salad with tuna and mayonnaise.
- Freshly-squeezed natural juices: lime, orange, grapefruit, passion fruit, cherry, or pineapple.
So when you're down in the D.R. Go local at lunchtime! Try your goat stew, rice & beans, get a fried banana and pineapple juice. Then tell me how you liked it!
