ArturoFeliz previously said:

Having been a Dominican traditional food cook for many years and dedicating a good amount of those years to research Caribbean food I have come to believe that Caribbean hispanic food (Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican) is probably the best of all food ever.

Some will say that because the Dominican Republic has been able to develop its culture in a free and independent environment, its cuisine has kept most of its roots intact.

What I have seen is that Cuban, Puertorican and Dominican share the same roots and influences. (Mostly African, Taino and Spanish), that its seasonings are the same and that its main dishes are variations of the same original dishes and even with that, very similar in its final presentations.

Having myself visited many times Puerto Rico, tasted many times its food and even having some Puertorican blood I have had the opportunity to study it with care. Puertorican food its delicious, and it shares with Cuba a stress on pork meat.

Cuban food is also very tasty, with a stress in pork (as well as Puerto Rico)

Dominican food uses more chicken than everything else.

That being said, I believe we share so much. We all use the basic seasonings: oregano, garlic, peppers, cilantro, paprika, saffron, etc. we eat the same meats: chicken and pork mostly even though fish, seafood (Puerto Rico is very rich in the use of Crab, Dominicans and Cubans more in fish), beef and goat are also common.

The use of coconut milk is common to us all. Rice is a must and the stews, sancochos, asopaos, etc, are very popular.

Finally we are all very fond of "viveres", plantains, yuca, yams, yautias, etc. mofongos and tostones are just a consequence of that.

Having tasted all Hispanic Caribbean cuisines, I tend to lean very lightly towards Dominican food, which also has many subregional cuisines, but the fact is that Puertorican and Cuban are also highly delicious.

I have dedicated many years to studying Dominican traditional food. To check my food blog go to http://elfogoncito.net

Enjoy!
Arturo

JEM237 previously said:




Hello Arturo, welcome to DT!

I agree with your assessment of the food of all three Spanish Caribbean islands, except the part where you mention that Dominican food is mostly based on chicken.

I disagree.

Dominican food is also very rich in pork and is very widely eaten: pernil, chuleta ahumada, chuleta frita, LONGANIZA (major Dominican "diet" staple), salami (another major one), carne de cerdo frita, chicharrones, jamon ahumado, carne de cerdo guisada, orejas y lengua de cerdo frita and many, many others that I cannot remember. The only chicken dishes that come to mind with Dominican food are pollo guisado, empanadas de pollo, chicharron de pollo and pollo asado and a few others, all of which are also eaten by Cubans and Puerto Ricans as well.

And thanks for the link to your blog, I will check it out!

ArturoFeliz previously said:



Thanks for your kind comment! I understand what you say and if we see it in terms of variety of dishes, then yes, pork wildly outweighs Chicken, but my assessment is in terms of what we eat everyday.

We all know that while pork is preferred and we have so many delicious pork dishes, we eat mostly chicken, white rice and stewed beans almost every day.

Now thinking in what you say about salami and longaniza I admit I could be mistaken.

Please also consider that when I said it I meant it to be compared to Puerto Rico and Cuba. In Puerto Rico we find a "Lechonera" in almost every corner while in Dominican Republic is more common to find "pica pollos" so I have said sometimes that Dominicans are as crazy about chicken as Puertoricans (and Cubans) are about pork.

I have not forgotten, of course, that our cuisine (I mean hispanic Caribbean) is very very rich. I have posted literally hundreds of recipes and sometimes I feel like I have just scratched the surface!


Take care!
Arturo

dreadlocks previously said:

JEM, correct me if i am wrong, but i suspect that the reason why chicken is more popular in the DR is because of the relative price, vis a vis beef. secondly, since Dominican cows are free range, they have very fibrous meat, which takes long times to cook to the point of tenderness. the economics of the country dictate that people spend as little on cooking energy as possible. why have the stove going for 2 hours cooking beef, when you can throw the chicken in a frying pan for 20 minutes. besides, you can do a million things with chicken..stew, fry, roast, barbecue, grill, rotisserie, curry, chicharrones, soup, you name it. beef is limited in what it can be used to do.

JEM237 previously said:



Thanks Arturo!

I agree that pollo guisado con arroz y habichuelas is a staple but I think that carne guisada is more popular but I could be wrong.

You are right about the abundance of pica pollos but there are just as many "frituras" all over the place, too and these offer pork mostly.

The longaniza and salami mention is definitely spot-on, trust me!!!

Just notice how 2/3 of the "traditional" Dominican "breakfast" Los 3 Golpes is pork: Salami, Longaniza y Queso Frito

dreadlocks previously said:

JEM, correct me if i am wrong, but i suspect that the reason why chicken is more popular in the DR is because of the relative price, vis a vis beef. secondly, since Dominican cows are free range, they have very fibrous meat, which takes long times to cook to the point of tenderness. the economics of the country dictate that people spend as little on cooking energy as possible. why have the stove going for 2 hours cooking beef, when you can throw the chicken in a frying pan for 20 minutes. besides, you can do a million things with chicken..stew, fry, roast, barbecue, grill, rotisserie, curry, chicharrones, soup, you name it. beef is limited in what it can be used to do.

JEM237 previously said:



Good point Dread. Makes perfect sense. I should also clarify that the dishes I mention are more common in Dominican restaurants and households here in the U.S. due to the easier (cheaper) access to beef. I'm not too keen on the affordability of pork in DR right now.