All the same words for one vegetable!  Berenjena in the Dominican Republic is grown in abundance and size and is also one of the cheapest vegetables you can buy in the supermarket.  Tasty and versatile here are 2 recipes with a modern angle to tickle your tastebuds...

Ingredients Required

• 6 medium sized eggplants/aubergines/berenjena’s
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• Quarter of a cup of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• Pinch of dried oregano
• Couple of sprigs of fresh green basil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

How To Make Your Eggplant/Aubergine/Berenjena Salad

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Meanwhile prick/pierce the eggplants several times all over with a fork and then place them on a baking tray
• Bake the eggplants for one to one and a half hours until they are completely soft.  Remove and let them cool off completely.  Once cool, remove the skins and chop the inside finely.  Put the eggplants into a large mixing bowl. 
• Cook the garlic with a tablespoon full of olive oil in a frying pan until soft and lightly brown.  Stir in the remaining olive oil and add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, oregano and basil until the sugar has dissolved. 
• Pour this mixture over the eggplants and still well.  Add salt and pepper to taste then cover the mixing bowl and allow to chill for at least one hour before serving.

• Preheat your oven to around 300 degrees.
• Boil the eggplant until soft and then drain well. Mix in half of  the grated cheese and toasted bread pieces/crumbs.
• In another bowl mix the cream, flour and poultry seasoning.
• Transfer the eggplant mixture into a small greased casserole tray or baking tray and then pour the cream and flour mixture over the top.
• Sprinkle the remaining half of the cheese over the top and bake in the oven for a further 30 minutes.

A great vegetarian main meal or use this as a side dish with a crisp salad.

Black bean soup can be easily and quickly prepared using either dried black beans (soak overnight and then discard water) or using canned black beans. Dominicans will prepare this soup simply while other variations can be made by using ham/bacon bits for extra flavour during the cooking process.

Ingredients Required

• 2 Cans of black beans, rinsed and then drained (15 oz size each)
• 1 Medium chopped white onion
• 1 Chopped green bell pepper
• 7 Cups of water
• 1 Teaspoonful of olive oil
• A pinch of ground cumin
• Salt to taste
• Course ground black pepper

How To Make Your Black Bean Soup

• In a large pan saute the onion, garlic and green pepper until soft
• Add the drained beans, 7 cups of water and salt, black pepper and cumin
• Mix well and then simmer over a low light for about 25 minutes. (It’s at this point that if you like you can add some bacon or chunks of ham)
• Let the soup cool off and then start to puree in a blender. (Some people prefer to puree all the beans, while other people like to puree only half the mixture to give the soup a rougher consistency)
• Once you have your desired consistency return all the soup back to the pan and heat gently until hot enough to serve

This soup is great just served on it’s own, or with a dollop of sour cream and some finely chopped onions on top.

Red beans are an integral part of daily Dominican Life. Served at lunchtime they provide a nutritious and tasty accompaniment to many meals.n Typically served with rice and a side salad with a piece of chicken, pork or beef.

Ingredients Required

• 1lb dried red beans
• 1 large red onion cut in small pieces
• 4 diced garlic cloves
• 1 diced green bell pepper
• Half a cup of chopped celery
• Half a cup of fresh cilantro (corriander) note: leaves only no stem parts
• 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano (if you cannot find fresh dried will do but use only a pinch of dried)
• Half a cup of fresh parsely note: leaves only no stem parts
• 2 oz of cooking oil (olive oil is best if you have it)
• 2 chicken stock cubes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of white vinegar

How To Make Your Fabulous Stewed Red Beans or Habichuelas Rojos Guisadas

• Wash the beans well and then cover with cold water and allow to soak overnight
• Drain, and place beans in a pot along with the 2 quarts of water and 2 chicken stock cubes, bring to the boil and then lower the heat to allow beans to simmer and cook (when cooked beans will be soft to the touch)
• When cooked, turn off the heat, set the pot aside and let the beans sit in their liquid
• In a frying pan heat up the oil and saute or in Spanish sofrito the red onion, bell pepper, garlic, celery, cilantro and oregano
• When the vegetables are soft, add this to the pot of beans and return to the stove and heat up again gently

Your stewed beans are now ready to serve with or on the top of some fresh steamy white rice

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds of chicken
• 2 pounds of pork chops
• 1 pound of "tocino" (salt pork, spanish sausage)
• 1.5 pound of goat meat
• 1 pound of sausage
• 4 large plaintain bananas
• 2 pounds of yucca (cassava, tapioca, manioc)
• 2 pounds of malanga
• 2 pounds of spanish pumpkin
• 2 pounds of sweet potatoes
• 5 corns on the cob
• 2 pounds of white yam (taro)
• 6 liters of water
• 1.5 tablespoon of oregano
• 5 coffe spoons of salt
• 2 tablespoon of "naranja agria" (these are oranges that are very, very sour)
• 2 green bell pepper (cut in four pieces)
• 1 medium size onion
• 1 coffee spoon of garlic (smashed)
• Some leaves of parsley
• Some leaves of cilantro
• 1 tablet of chicken bouillon
• 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
• Worcestershire sauce (English)

How to prepare the ingredients:  

The day before (to save some time) you can cook the meats and store them in the refrigerator. The best way of cooking them is:

• Cut the chicken in different pieces, wash the chicken with "naranja agria" taking out the skin and excess grease. Add onions, garlic, bell pepper, English sauce (or soy sauce), tomatoes and salt. After half an hour, cook the chicken without adding tomato sauce. Add more water than usual so that you can use the resulting sauce. Do not let get the chicken to become too tender. When done, save it in the refrigerator.
  
  
• Cook the pork chops and goat in the same way as the chicken but cook them separately. Add more water than usual so that you can use the resulting sauce. When done, save it in the refrigerator.
  
  
• Cut the "tocino" in small pieces (half an inch) and pass it through hot vegetable oil (to give a nice color). Add some water and cook. Do not let get the "tocino" to become too tender.
  
  
• Cut the sausage in small pieces (half an inch each) and fry the pieces. Save the vegetable oil.
  
  
• Peel of the yucca, plaintain bananas, malanga, spanish pumpkin, sweet potatoesand white yam and cut them in samll pieces. Put them in salt water so that they do not become black.
  
  
• In a large pot (or two medium size pots) put the salt and the water. Add the onions, bell pepper, leaves of parsley and cilantro, spanish pumpkin, corn, plaintain bananas and malanga. When they are getting tender put all the other vegetables, the meat and the "sauces". Add two tablespoons of the oil in which the sausage was fried, "naranja agria", vinegar, garlic, check the salt. Do not let the sancocho to get too thick.
  
  
• Put the spanish pumpkin in two portions: the first one to add thickness to the "sancocho" and the second to eat with the sancocho. If some vegetables are too tender, take them out. When the sancocho is done, put them in again. When done, you can serve the sancocho with rice and add picante sauce (Tabasco, for instance). This recipe is good for 18 portions.
  
  
• oregano = oregano, wild marjoram,winter sweet
• cilantro = coriander, cilantro
• auyama = spanish pumpkin, butternut squash, winter squash
• puerro = leek, green onion

I couldn’t resist slipping in this spicy little salsa, Mango’s are available seasonally in the Dominican Republic, and are delicious just eaten on their own bought by the roadside, served and sliced with ice cream or just left to chill in the fridge and then peeled. Try the salsa to spice things up a little...

Ingredients Required

• 4 fresh mango’s, peeled and then diced
• 1 hot red pepper, jalapeno if you can get it, seeded and chopped (if you prefer a super hot salsa then keep the seeds)
• Quarter of a cup of olive oil
• Quarter of a cup of fresh chopped cilantro/coriander leaves (no stem)
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• Salt and Pepper to taste

 How To Make Your MangoMama’s Mango Salsa

• Grab a large bowl
• Simply put all the ingredients together and mix really well
• Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight
• In the morning uncover the bowl and you are ready to serve the salsa

 This salsa is great used as an accompaniment to grilled or BBQ chicken and meats.Try oven roasted vegetables with this or just simply dip in some corn chips and enjoy yourself with a cold Presidente beer!

This is an adapted recipe using one of the Dominican Republics finest ingredients and that is RUM! Chicken is a widely used meat so why not liven up your dinner plate and try this recipe out at home! A taste of the tropics that’ll remind you of your fabulous holiday here....

Ingredients Required

• 4 large chicken breasts with or without the bone(your preference)
• 1 can of pineapple chunks (20 oz size) drained
• 1 cup of rum (not 151 rum please use a light brown rum)
• 1 jar of sweet and sour sauce (10 oz size)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

How To Make Your Cheeky Chicken With Rum

• Preheat your oven to around 375 degrees
• Lightly grease a baking tray or casserole dish and place the chicken pieces on the bottom
• Cover the tray/dish and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. (If you are using boned pieces cook chicken with the bone part facing towards you)
• Meanwhile make yourself a cuba libra (rum and coke) while you are waiting for the chicken to bake
• Remove from the oven and turn over the chicken pieces
• Place the pineapple chunks around the chicken (save a little for garnishing later)
• Pour the sweet and sour sauce over the chicken pieces
• Here’s the best part - pour the rum over the chicken
• Add salt and pepper to taste, re-cover and then bake for a further 15 minutes

Just simply now garnish with remaining pineapple chunks and your cheeky chicken is ready to serve, great with rice or a simple green salad.

Sea Bass is widely available in the Dominican Republic.  While it is normally an expensive fish in other parts of the world it is fished and caught locally all around the island.

Known as “merro” here, it is a delicious fish and can be served in many inventive and enticing ways.
Ingredients Required

• Dash of olive oil
• 1.5 lb of potatoes (peeled, very thinly sliced)
• 1.5 lb of sea bass cut into 4 steaks of about 1.5 inches of thickness
• 2 fresh tomatoes cut in halves
• 2 scallions (if you can’t find them a small white onion will be ok)
• 4 minced cloves of garlic
• 2 good sprigs of parsley minced
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary minced
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme of if you can't get fresh use quarter of a teaspoon of dried thyme instead
• Juice of one lemon (or if you live in the Dom Rep then a large juicy lime will do just as well)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

How To Make Your Sexy Baked Sea Bass

• Blanche the thinly sliced potatoes
• Drain them and pat dry
• Preheat your oven to around 400 degrees
• Brush or coat the bottom of a casserole or baking tray with the olive oil and then place the potatoe slices along the bottom, make sure you cover the tray completely, overlapping is allowed in the corners
• Place the sea bass steaks on top of the potatoes and arrange the tomato halves alongside the fish
• Brush over the fish and tomatoes lightly with olive oil
• Mix together the garlic, parsley, scallion or onion, rosemary and thyme
• Sprinkle your garlic herb mixture all over the sea bass
• With the juice of the lemon or lime drizzle it over the top of the garlic mixture and add salt and pepper to taste
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until both the fish and potatoes are cooked

 Your sexy sea bass bake is ready to serve!

Dominican food is a mixed blend of African, Spanish and Taino Indian influences, and if you just stick to your meals in your all-inclusive hotel buffets then you will not get a real taste of the island flavours at all. The food whilst not heavily hot spiced like neighbouring islands of Jamaica and Trinidad draws a different range of spices to tingle and tempt taste-buds with plenty of fresh herbs, garlic and tangy sauces.

Rice and Beans!

The most common plate eaten by everyone here is rice and beans. From toddlers to old folk this is pretty much the staple of every meal being highly nutritious and tasty. The dish is called the Dominican Flag and the beans (red kidney beans) are cooked in a pungent herby tomato sauce, this dish usually comes with fried chicken or pork and a basic salad (cabbage is used here a lot instead of lettuce as a salad base). Do not be surprised to see "green" tomatoes in a typical Dominican salad - they are crunchy and very tasty! Garlic, tomato and green peppers are all key ingredients in Dominican cooking (La cocina Dominicana) and are the base for most of the sauces used here.

Some like it hot!

For something spicy try the stewed goat or chivo picante (picante means spicy/hot). Goat tastes very similar to lamb for the uninitiated but is known to be a little boney. This is delicious and comes served with rice, tostones (Fried plantian chips) and salad. The goats are grown in the west of the country and are fed fresh oregano which grows in abundance in the countryside giving their meat a unique and sweet flavor.

Favourites

Sancocho is one of the most famous dishes in the DR. Originated from the Spanish housewives who colonized here in the sixteen hundreds this dish is made from 5 different meats, an amazing selection of tubers, vegetables and spices. Served as a hearty stew/soup fresh avocados (when in season) are sliced on top.

Fish and Seafood

Fresh seafood and fish are specialities in most restaurants here, from sea bass, parrot fish and tuna all locally caught, fried, poached, grilled or baked, plain or served a la criolla (spicy tomato sauce), with garlic or con coco (with coconut) in certain parts of the country. Shrimps, lobster and crab can be found in most restaurants and are served simply to let the natural flavours speak for themselves. Some of the best places to taste sea food are the small shack type restaurants found on beaches where you can see a barbeque in place and pick what you want off the grill. Served with salad and French fries, the coolest beer you can imagine sit back under your palm tree and watch the waves as you tuck into your Caribbean tropical delight!

Word of Warning

A lot of the food, especially in hotels, is deep fried using coconut oil - so a word or warning when you first arrive is not to stuff too much at once and ease your delicate tummies into the buffet line gently. Coconut being a natural laxative is a main cause for most tummy upsets over here.

Fruits

Real home grown organic fruits are readily available in not just your hotels but in supermarkets, outdoor markets and street vendors everywhere, fresh and sun-ripened and all those tropical colours and flavours ready to explode in your mouth – delicious. Pineapples, passion fruit, mango’s, papaya’s, oranges, star fruits, bananas, and many more are often used fresh in smoothies/milkshakes or "batida’s" as they called in the DR.

What to Drink

The aforementioned drinks are in chronological order from waking up to disco dancing and then going to bed!

Breakfast time – Dominican coffee ranks as one of the number one coffee’s in the world. Most Dominicans take it in small doses literally smothered in sugar – this is called a café cito. However you like it, black or with milk it is delicious coffee and you should always make sure you take a couple of packs back home with you to remind you of your fabulous vacation.

Mid Morning – A freshly squeezed juice is available just about everywhere, from inside your hotel to most cafes and bars offering a staggering selection of juices. Fresh orange juice is cool and refreshing just about anytime!

Lunchtime – Bottled water is a must to re-hydrate yourselves but as it is now after 11.00 you couldn’t go far wrong with a cool Presidente, the number one selling beer on the island. Other brands of beer are Bohemia and Brahma.

Afternoon – Cocktail time has arrived already – choose from a pina colada, bana mama or melon ball the choice is yours – just remember the amount of coconut milk used could have you running to the loo more times than you really want too!

Sodas are widely available over here, not much choice in the range of diet sodas but the main sellers like Pepsi and Coca Cola can be bought nearly everywhere. Interesting to note that a soda is usually more expensive to buy than a shot of rum!

Evening – Wines are imported into the DR, making them costly when eating out and a limited choice usually. Rum is made on the island and comes in a confusing amount of ages and tastes. The main brands are Brugal, Barcelo and Bermudez. The rums are darker when aged, however you can also buy white rum too. Watch out for 151 rum as it is 100% proof and great as a take home present for your mother-in-law as it will have her out for weeks after just one sip or for soaking your dentures in!

Most people drink their rum with coke this is a cuba libre or with sprite a santo libre! You could always ask for a “servicio” which is a small bottle of rum, two cokes and a bucket of ice with some lime slices, when out in a local bar!

Don’t forget to try the local aphrodisiac which is called “Mama Juana” a hard to stomach concoction of rum, honey, barks and leaves. Which is made in a large bottle and then put away for 3 months or so. Once potency has been fully reached it is served in little shot glasses usually after dinner! You can buy the dried form of leaves and barks in most supermarkets and add your own rum honey or special blends back home!Enjoy……!!!!!