Ha-bi-chu-el-a! Co-con-he? Moro? what? New country, new terms, new food! In the forst weeks I’ve got to know some new basics, not only platano or mangú, but also other kind of strange dishes. Here a little guide, that surely could be more comprehensive, but here I just want to mention the most important ones.
RICE, RICE, RICE As some of you may know is rice as in round about 60% of the world, also here and in all other latinamerica countries a staple food.
First, generally here rice is very lose and not as “stitchy” as in Germany or even in Asian cuisine. Here in Jima does it have a kind of more special meaning, because Jima, la ciudad del arroz, the city of rice, is surrounded by many rice fields (my host-dad also have one).
MORRO Here the rice is not always cooked white but it is also common to cook the rice with corn, habichuela (in this case just the beans), lentils or black beans or any other vegetable and fitting spices and tomatopaste. There is also “moro con carne”, which is exactly the same but with meat instead of weggies. This special dish is, I think so, common in middleamerica. In fact its origin is Cuban.
ARROZ CON DULCE This “rice with sweetness” is like our (german) milkrice.The dish is cooked with milk and sugar and is eaten as breakfast or dessert.
CONCON Very strange and curious- meanwhile I love the, for us waste and for Dominicans a reason to start a general family debate, crunchy topping. Concon in fact is burned rice that is scratched out of the iron pot and then used as crunchy topping for habichuela, sancocho & Co. As I heard from other latinamerican exchange students, concon is special in the Dominican Republic and Caribe.
Comfort food: Next to platano, potatoes, meat & Co there are some standard dishes which can be found in every Dominican household nearly every day.
HABICHUELA Translated just beans, but here is habichuela meant to be a with spices, garlic, pumpkin and green pepper cooked beansoup-sauce. She is generally everyday on the table and can also be found in variations with white or black beans. She’s also part of the traditional dish “la bandera” (= the flag). Here´s the ingredients of this dish:
Red: meat, often cooked chicken White: rice Blue: (not really) habichuela
SANCOCHO is a onepotdish and also is used in the everyday life language as a description of a clutter, huddle, bristle or just mess. As said Sancocho is a onepotdish that is traditionally cooked with differents meats, platano verde, carrots, yuca, potatoes and spices ( variations are welcomed what a sancocho ) in a oversized pot. This dish is because of its long cooking time. More often eaten on weekends and often found on the plates in combination with white rice, avocado, salad or vegetables .
I hope you enjoied the dominican comfort food overview Greetings Sophia