The Dominican Republic offers a wide range of products when it comes to gastronomy, but certainly the staple Dominican dish is rice with meat and beans.
As a side dish you can usually eat a salad or maybe fried plantains.
Plantain is widely used here in the Dominican cuisine, there are two types of plantains, the green one and the ripe one.
The avocado, which is an exotic fruit ,is widely used on the island, Dominicans love to eat it with rice.
The meat used in the Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic you will find meat of beef, pork and chicken, the chicken meat is used more because it’s the most economical.
You will not find veal, you will find only the meat of an adult cow.
You can also find goat meat which is very tasty.
With regard to the meat we must point out that here in Dominican Republic they do not allow the meat to mature, therefore it is more tough. It is best kept in the refrigerator for a while so it can soften a bit. Most of the time cow meat will be a little tough.
The typical Dominican dishes.
As already mentioned, the typical dish is rice, meat and a cream of beans. The rice can be plain or cooked with corn or with meat and in this case it’s called locrio.
The meat is seasoned with a product that is used a lot here in the Dominican Republic called Sazon ,it’s merely a kind of bouillon cube like ours but with many more spices.
In addition to meat the Dominicans love to eat tripe or chicken feet with sauce and spices, rice is usually eaten for lunch and in the evening the most popular meals are the following:
Boiled plantain with fried pork.
A tuber called Yuca fried or served with meat sauce.
Fried cheese with spaghetti and red sauce.
Yucca patties stuffed with cheese.
Fried chicken with fried plantains.
The cheeses in the Dominican Republic
There are many types of cheese produced here, the most common is a white cheese that you can find throughout the region . It is sold in balls about a pound each and it is very similar to our mozzarella, maybe a bit more like Primo Sale.
Another cheese that is called picantino which very similar to our pecorino and is sold in very convenient packs.
Other products in the Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic there are many places where you can eat on the street at very affordable prices. You can find many places that sell salty meat which is basically a piece of meat seasoned with salt and other spices that is hung on a string to dry and then fried ,it is eaten with fried platano. Another popular food you will find on the street is chicharron which is nothing other than pieces of fried pork, very heavy but really good!
Vegetables in the Dominican Republic
You can find both local and imported vegetables, many of the local vegetables are the same as ours, like nasturtium salad, celery, tomatoes, parsley, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and potatoes. A vegetable that we don’t have is the guandule which tastes a bit like a mix between peas and beans and is commonly used to flavor and season the rice.
Dominican Fish dishes.
Fish is widely used in the Dominican Republic, it is mostly fried and the most common are the following:
Colirubia
Mere
Ciglio
Dorado
There are also many other types of fish, but the above mentioned are the most important.
Shrimp is also very good and cheap and sold on the beach in the morning by the fisherman. Crabs are very good as well there are 2 main types, a small blue crab that is very taste and good for making pasta dishes, and the bigger one which is used more as a main dish. Same thing goes for lobsters which are usually grilled. Another popular fish is the Lambi which is very similar to our squid.
Dominican empanada
The empanada is sold throughout the region and is very much loved by the Dominicans, it’s a kind of batter filled with either cheese and ham, mixed vegetables, egg or minced meat and then fried. It is eaten as a snack or for breakfast.