The Dominican Health Ministry has has the Dominican shipping company Casa Chepe SRL recall 14,000 metric tons of sugar that had been inported and distributed in the Dominican Republic since July 2012. The sugar has been found to contain various impurities including sand and cellulos fibers.
The contaminated sugar was imported from Brazil under the brand Canaria and is not considered safe for consumption. (more…)
Mamey Sapote Smoothy
The Mamey Sapote is indiginous to Mexico, South and Central America, The Carribean, and Southern Florida,USA. It looks like a small football, but when you open it up, it has a beautiful dark brown shiny seed, and reddish-orange flesh. In the Dominican Republic you will usually see the fruit with the spelling of Zapote
When my neighbor gave me one, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to eat it.I remembered not liking the flavor much the first time that I tried it. With my tastebuds, it tasted a little like a mixture between cooked carrots and sweet potato and resembles the texture also. I almost gave it to a friend, BUT WAIT…
It occured to me that just about any fruit tastes most delicous as a smoothy. Lets try it!
You will need:
1 mamey sapote
milk to taste
sugar to taste
1 tbsp vanilla (I prefer white)
1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon (adjust to taste)
1/2 a blender of ice cubes
Dominican Hot Chocolate
I was visiting a friend who was about to have a gathering of about 20 people at her house. What would we have for la cena (dinner)? With a limited budget and a few mouths to feed, she decided on Dominican hot chocolate and bread.
Normally I believe this would be something that would be eaten for breakfast here, but it worked out just fine for our gathering of fun and games and a little something yummy.
I watched intently to see how this chocolate was to be made. I had in mind that it would taste like Mexican hot chocolate, which is a little more bitter tasting and not much to my liking, but this chocolate was MUCH different, and most delicious!
This hot chocolate will fill the air with the warm aromas of cinnamon and cloves and of course, chocolate.
You can also try adding it to your coffee for a wonderful mocha! (more…)
The Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo has a new American Food Restaurant. Denny’s is one of the largest family restaurant chains in the United States and at least one can be found in most of the larger towns in California.
Denny’s is working with one of the more experienced hotel franchise groups, the same one that has brought the Holiday Inn and Intercontinental Hotel into Santo Domingo. The new restaurant location was officially opened on June 26 2012 in the food court of the the Las Americas (Santo Domingo) Airport making it the first airport location worldwide. (more…)
It’s Mango Season!
We’re starting to see mangos at the fruit stands again. There are several varieties that can be found in the Dominican Republic. I pretty much like them all but in particular there are some larger ones that often are sold by the pound that are my favorite. These can be easily sliced like filets so you don’t get the strings stuck in your teeth.
The town of Mani (the proclaimed Mango Capital) has a Mango Fair and Expo going on this weekend. The video displayed is in Spanish but gives you a little bit of an idea what to expect at this years mango fair. (more…)
Boruga de Leche Sounds exotic doesn’t it!
My son and I were given a new taste treat today. On our way home with a Dominican friend we stopped by a store on the side of the road and he bought us one of his favorite “juices” – Boruga de Leche.
To give you a hint Leche means milk. We brought a bit back for my wife and younger son to try. The vote. My wife – a pretty resounding never again. My older son and I gave it a middle of the ground, not bad and might buy it again, My youngest son said the taste was fine but the texture (kind of a slimy, lumpy drink), didn’t quite do it for him.
So, what is Boruga de Leche? (more…)
Once again Cholera is spreading on the island of Hispaniola. This time we are seeing more in the Dominican Republic. Depending on the report you read there have been either 15 or 23 deaths due to the disease. While this probably still isn’t a sufficient reason to avoid coming to the DR it’s good to review the precautions you should take.
There are several main areas that you should be cautious about; the water, fresh fruit and vegetables food from street venders, food from other restaurants, food from resort restaurants. While you can never be guaranteed to never have a problem, being careful will greatly reduce the chances of you having problems. If though you find you are having heavy diarrhea or vomiting when you are visiting any country it is good to get yourself checked out quickly, waiting can make it take longer to clear up.
If you do think you got something (stomach pains, diarrhea, vomiting) try finding a private clinic or hospital. (more…)
If you going learn how to cook Dominican style, arepitas are a recipe you can’t go without. They are usually not eaten as commonly as rice and beans, but they are definitely essential to the Dominican diet.
Dominican Arepitas – You will be hard pressed to find someone that doesn’t like these little deep fried yucca balls. And as long as you are pay attention they are pretty hard to mess up.
Buying food in the Dominican Republic. If you have come from the US or Europe, buying food in the Dominican Republic can be quite different from what you are used to. Some even classify buying food here as a skill. Something that takes learning and there are plenty of theories to how it is best done.
If you have never visited the Dominican Republic, you are probably thinking, “How do you figure? What’s so hard about going to the supermarket, finding what you want and buying it?”
If you are in a larger town, it may be that simple, but if you are in a smaller town; there might not even be any supermarkets. In which case you will be buying things at a lot of colmados or in the market place. (a colmado is a little corner market that many times is no bigger that 10’ by 10’)
What You Are Dealing With
Colmados and venders in the marketplace are normally owned by and single person or family and the vast majority of their products are highly negotiable. This means two things. The first one is good news; you can pretty much always get the price down a little lower. And Two, not so good; they are going to try and the most they can out of you. (more…)
Copyright 2009-2013 dr-dominicanrepublic.com