The food of Dominican Republic / Comida de República Dominicana
LETTER C
Cachú or Kachu
– Your basic tomato condiment Ketchup.
Cajuilito
(Solimán) – A small pear-shaped fruit that is nicely sweet with a crunchy texture and very few seeds. They are a pink to white color sometimes turning bright red when they are over-ripe. They can be eaten fresh or made into juices and jams. You can see vendors along the streets selling these small fruits. Ask for a taste of one.
Cajuil
– Cashew. The interior is the cashew NUT or seed (semillas) called Marañon. The outside of the fruit is made into sweets that are very tasty. There are many different types of this fruit from nice and round to long and flat. You can purchase Cajuil nuts and Cajuil Dulce, the sweet fruits, in many roadside stands and markets.
More detailed information about the cajuil.
Jars of Cajuil Dulce
Calabaza
– West Indian type pumpkin
Calamares
– A smaller squid that is tenderer than the larger octopus or pulpo
Camarones
– shrimp
Cangrejo
– Jaiba – Crab. You can find these being sold on the streets and beaches. They are tied into a bundle. Very tasty.
cangrejo – crabs ready for cooking
Caña
– Sugar cane. Sold by vendors on street corners and just about everywhere. You can buy these natural peeled sticks for munching on. Make sure you keep the bag or have a place to spit the discarded the pulp after you have removed the juice. You can also get the juice squeezed if you desire. Caña street vendor.
Carnasion
– Carnation milk
Carne molida
– Ground Beef
Casabe
– Cassava. More information on Casabe and Casabe Bread.
Catibia
– flour made from fresh yuca.
Cerdo
– Pork
Cereza
– The Barbados cherry is the common cherry here in DR. It grows on a large bushy type shrub or tree. It gets small pink flowers with the fruits being ripe from April to October. The tree produces bright red cherries that are very tart with 3 seeds inside. They are very high in vitamin C. The fruits can be purchased throughout the country. They can be made into a wonderful juice.
Cereza cherries and seeds
Champola
– milk mixed with the guanábana fruit
Cebada
– Barley
Chen Chen
– pudding made with cornmeal
Chicharrone / Chicharones
– Fried pork skins. One can usually purchase these in the streets carried on the shoulders of street vendors. Topped with a special vinegar sauce or límon these are very greasy, not that good for you. But they are sooo tasty that once you have tried them you won’t be able to resist making the guy stop to sell you a little bit (un chin)
Chicharrone, Chicharones – Fried pork skins
Chimichurri – Chimi
– A hamburger Dominican style.
China/ Jugo de China
– Orange/ Orange juice. You can also call this fruit Naranja.
Chinola
– Passion fruit. This fruit has a tart sweetness that is wonderful made into juice and ice cream. It is also great eating this messy fruit fresh from the skin (easer if eaten with a spoon)
Chinola – Passion fruit
Chivo
– Goat
Chivo Picante or Chivo Liniero
– Spicy goat
Cho-Cho or Tayota
– Little squash
Cho-Cho or Tayota
Chofan
– Dominican twist to the Chinese dish chow fan. This is a rice dish made with bacon, chicken and/or fried pork skin. Added in are egg, garlic, onions and other ingredients that are different according to the cook. Get the recipe for Chofan.
Chuleta ahumada
– Smoked pork chop
Chuleta al Carbon
– Grilled pork cutlet
Chuletas de Res
– Beef Cutlet
Churrasco
– Skirt Steak. Usually charcoal grilled wit lots of spices.
Ciruela
– Prune (Ciruela Seca-dry prune)
Coco de Auga – coconut and coconut water
Coco de Auga
– The water inside a green coconut. Very refreshing. Information about the Cocoero Street Vendor
Coco Tierno
– Coconut and milk sweetened to make a puddling like desert.
Coliflor
– Cauliflower
Concón
– The burnt rice on the bottom of the pan. It is very good to eat (make concón)
The food of Dominican Republic / Comida de República Dominicana
LETTER B
Bacalaítos
– Cod Fish Fritters. These salted Cod (Bacalo) fritters can be served as a snack, side dish or main part of a meal. When prepared Dominican style they are filled with minced salted cod fish, onions and cilantro and sometimes with different variations of ingredients. These little fritters are nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Bacalao
– Cod Fish
Barbacoa
– Barbecue. Food slow-cooked over an open fire or on a grill. This word originated from the Taino Indians. (This does not refer to the barbecue sauce). Here you can find many different foods cooked barbecue style both in restaurants and in the streets.
Batata Frita
– sweet potato fritters. They can be sliced round or in strips like French Fries or cut wider like Steak Fries. Sometimes they are fried simply with or without the skins and other times they can be dipped into cornstarch.
Batata
– Sweet potato. There are a few different varieties from white inside to red.
Batata
Batida
– A blender drink made of different fruits. The fresh fruit is blended with milk (either Carnation milk or regular milk), sugar, sometimes vanilla is added, and ice. Very much like a milk shake but made with fruits. Batida de Fresa (Strawberry) Batida de Lechoza (Papaya). A refreshing drink for any time of the day or night.
Mangos- Mango Bread – Mango milk blended juice
Berenjena
– Eggplant. You can find this versatile vegetable prepared in many different ways. One of the favorites is a stewed dish served as a salad or side dish.
Biscocho
– Cake. Dominican style biscocho is oh so wonderful. With or without icing you can purchase small cakes in local stores individually packaged. Some places sell the cake cut into triangles prepared by a local and sold in the local Colmado. You can also go to a bakery and purchase this sweet delight for parties decorated in a variety of ways.
Dominican-style bizcocho
Bistec
– Beef. This covers all types of beef be it steak or thinly sliced to be used in guisadas (stews)
Bondelic
(bizcochos de) – Prune cake. Also a very upscale bakery in Ensanche Julieta, Santo Domingo.
Buche Perico
– A stew made mostly of corn. The name translates to Parrots Gut.
The food of Dominican Republic / Comida de República Dominicana is a blend of many different cultural dishes all combined to make a style of cooking that is unique to this island. With influences from the Taino Indians, Spaniards, African Slaves and many other immigrants, the Dominican dishes or comida criolla has evolved. The Dominicans have created their own food and cooking styles into dishes that have their own distinctive flavors, tastes and appearances.
Dominican food is high in carbohydrates and starch. Most recipes are not complicated and are made from very natural and locally grown foods that are readily available in gardens, trees and from local vendors. Add a little locally raised meat or a fresh catch of fish, and some sazóne (spices) and you have a typical Dominican meal. Remember that typical Dominican foods are usually not spicy. In local type eateries there is a high chance that you will not see any black pepper. If you ask many will give you a bottle of hot sauce instead. They, in general, do not like their foods hot/ pica.
Salami, Fried Cheese and Platano.
Breakfast – Desayuno
Breakfast Dominican style has many options from which to choose.
One of the traditional foods served for breakfast is Mangú, which is mashed plantains with some flavoring added and topped with lots of red onions. The orange squash/ auyama is used to make mazamorra that is also served with onions. Spaghetti is also a favorite of the Dominicans. Fried cheese is also a favorite served with fried salami and eggs. People love their oatmeal/ avena that usually a bit runny cooked with milk and is very sweet. Of course, there is always a good variety of fruits from which to choose. I have seen many people eating Sancocho and Mondongo for breakfast as well. To wash it all down have some jugo de avena, hot chocolate made with water or milk, some fresh juice and of course a hot cup of espresso style coffee made fresh to order.
Lunch – La Bandera Dominicana
La Bandera Dominicana/ The Dominican Flag
The typical Dominican lunch, called La Bandera Dominicana/ The Dominican Flag (La Bandera recipe), consists of beans/ habichuelas and rice/ arroz, meat/ carne or fish/ piscado, and a salad/ ensalada of some sort.
First, the plate is filled with the most rice I have ever seen heaped on a plate. The habichuelas/ juicy beans come in black, red, white or green, depending on the type of bean used. These beans are usually served in a small bowl or cup on the side and you pour this on top of the rice, along with some of the sauce from the meat if you so desire. You eat this with a large spoon and a knife used for pushing the food onto the spoon. The meat is usually cut into pieces and is stewed. The portion size of meat is dwarfed when it sits next to the hugh amount of rice on the plate. There are different varieties of salads that can be served the most popular being, Green Salad / Ensalada Verde, Avacado Salad/ Ensalada de Aguacate, Russian Potato Salad/ Ensalada Rusa, and a boiled salad I love with tayota, carrots and potatoes. When the beans are made just right and the rice has the perfect amount of salt, along with a little concón/ crispy fried rice from the bottom of the pan, this meal is wonderful.
I can see why most Dominicans eat this meal everyday of their lives. It is a joke among my Dominican friends, if they do not eat rice everyday they will not live. After living here for many years I have come to believe this as truth.
Sancocho Dominican style
Sancocho
Sancocho is the national dish of the Dominican people. It is made with a variety of meats and vegetables such as pork, beef, goat, fish, sweet potatoes. The recipe for sancocho is on our recipe pages. There is also another type of soup – stew type dish called asopao which is meat, veggies and rice in a flavorful broth. Make some for yourself, here is the recipe for Sancocho.
One of the many night time food vendors.
Dinner – Cena
The evening meal is usually something light because the main meal is served midday. You will see Dominicans eating a sandwich or a soup or stew such as Sancocho.
They do eat full dinners if they go out to a restaurant in the evening but at home it is usually light. Maybe they will pick up a snack on the street such as Chicharones, pasteles en hoja a hamburger or some fruit. Along many of the streets throughout the country you can find small trucks selling all types of fried foods and sandwiches. The roasted pork sandwiches are wonderful. Some snacks/ picadera consisting of olives, cheese and salami to go with a cold drink with friends are also popular.
Dominican-style bizcocho for sale in a Colmado
Dessert – Postre
The Dominicans know how to make desserts and sweets just right. They use all the local ingredients to make candies and cakes like no other place in the world.
Try out a mixture of beans, condensed milk and some other sweet and interesting ingredients. The name of this sweet mix is Habichuelas con dulse (habichuelas con dulse recipe *the link is to the old html web site). It is a traditional dessert served during Easter but can also be found the year round if you make your quest in the right places. It is also made into an ice cream that can be bought at Bon’s Helados. I never thought of beans as a dessert and ice cream. This is a must taste for sure. There is also the Dominican cake called Bizcocho that you can get with or without icing. The Flan is sweet and creamy and the candies made from coconut, papaya, almonds and other local fruits are yummy.
Fresh fruits from a vendor.
Fruits – Frutas and Juices – Jugos
The fruits grown here are the best. There are a wide variety of fruits that you have never seen or heard of before. Some do look ugly but don’t snub them because of the way they look. You have never eaten a pineapple/ piña until you have tried one here in República Dominicana.
The Mangos (season May thru September), of which there are many types, sizes and textures, are wonderful and very messy.
Mangos are best eaten with a knife as the little strings of fiber get stuck in the teeth. Do not let the mango juice get on your clothes because it stains.
Papaya/ lechosa is unbelievably tasty and nothing like what you will find in other countries.
An Avacado grown in DR has so much more flavor than any I tasted elsewhere.
Buy a banana or a peeled orange for a few pesos while walking the street for a quick pick me up. Just make sure that when you visit you do not pass up a taste you will always remember.
Zapote fruit, the beautiful seed inside and some juice blended with ice and milk. Yumm.
You can buy a juice on the street fresh squeezed and many restaurants serve their juices fresh as well.
There are a few different types of oranges. The china, which is the sweet orange, is used to make juice (sometimes it is mixed with sugar to make it even sweeter) and to eat whole. Then there is the bitter orange/ naranja sevillana that is used for cooking.
The Guava/ guayaba, a pink colored, pear-shaped fruit with yellow skin, is wonderful when made into juice or a greenish colored jelly (try it made into a paste and eaten with some cheese, I was shocked that this tastes so good).
I highly recommend everyone tries some zapote juice, the fruit is ugly but the juice is sooo yummy. The Guanabana and Passion fruit/ Chinola also makes a scrumptious juice. To learn more about the products grown in Dominican Republic go to our Grown in DR page.
Whatever you choose to eat while you are in Dominican Republic you should try new things. Things that may look strange to you might be a new yummy for your pallet. Some you might not like but I am sure that most of the cuisine in this country you will enjoy. You should keep your mind open to new taste sensations and try new foods. Whenever you visit a new place it is always important to try something different. You just might be pleasantly pleased. Try going to a restaurant and asking for something typical Dominican. If invited to a persons home for dinner make sure you try everything, no matter what it is. Even if your not crazy about what is served let them know how much you enjoyed everything. They are always hospitable and will probably be watching you while dining to make sure you are comfortable and happy. Many times when you are sitting in a restaurant, having a drink or snack in a Colmado or enjoying any type of food or drink Dominicans will pass by and say “Buen Provecho”. This means “Enjoy your meal”. Dominicans are friendly people and they use this phrase often.
Each part of this small island country has their own foods and recipes. Each dish is cooked in different ways depending on which part of the country you are in and which part of the country the person cooking comes from. There are also have different fruits and veggies that grow and thrive in certain parts of the country. Strawberries are grown best in Constanza, the Bani area is known for its Mangos. No matter where you are in our small island country you will find the most amazing tasting fruits, vegetables and foods all with its own Dominican taste and flavor. Be adventurous and enjoy our original Dominican sabor. Check out our Dominican Recipes and cooking terms.
We have our food words list so you will know how to say the different foods and exactly what they are. Impress your friends…
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