Our favorite Dominican Republic Christmas Foods
Essential elements of a Dominican Christmas
The range of Dominican Republic Christmas foods on the menu family Christmas dinner would usually include:
Puerco asado (Roasted pork)
Pollo asado o al horno (Roasted chicken or Chicken cooked in the oven)Moros de guandules (a combination of rice and 'peas' - usually gungo peas)
Ensalada Rusa (Russian salad - macedoine of potatoes and carrots, with peas and boiled eg bound with mayonnaise)
Ensalada verde (Fresh green salad)
Pasteles en Hojas (Tropical root vegetables cooked in banana or plantain leaves)
Pan Telera (a very long, soft white bread with a crusty top)
Dulces (Sweets - such as jellies, marshmallows, caramels)
Galletitas dulces y biscochos (Biscuits and Cakes - like pastries filled with figs, Danish Butter Biscuits and others)
Pudim Navideno (Some families might have a version of the European Christmas Pudding) Other Christmas 'treats'!
Fruits: Manzanas (Apples), uvas (grapes) and peras (pears) which in the Dominican Republic are fruits consumed just at Christmas time, as a
kind of 'delicacy'! We also love to eat frutas secas (nuts) at this time of the year, especially hazelnut (we call them 'coquitos' which literally means
"small coconuts" :-D), walnuts (nueces), and almonds (almendras)!
Drinks: Typical Dominican Republic Christmas drinks include red wine, anis ('Anis del Mono' - 'Monkey Aniseed' - is the most popular!) and ponche de huevo (eggnog) and, of
course, 'rhum' or 'ron' (rum). All these drinks have always been the first choices for most Dominican's.
But of course, we cannot forget
our delicious (at least for me!) non-alcoholic drink for Christmas time:
'jengibre' (ginger), which is an infusion
made of ginger roots which sometimes also includes a delicious fruit we call 'Jagua' (this fruit - also called a 'genipap' or 'marmalade box' - is about the size of an orange, succulent and has a strong flavour similar to ginger, but is much sweeter). ...and finally a little relaxation...or 'repentance'!
After eating so a variety of Dominican Republic Christmas foods, many families will just stay at home, listening to music and having a 'traguito' (a little drink -
may be likened to the practice of taking an after-dinner liqueur in other cultures). But those people who are more religious will probably go to church to attend to the Misa del Gallo (comparable to the 'Mid-night Mass, elsewhere),
which normally starts at 10.00 pm. The one celebrated at La Catedral Primada de America' (The Americas' First
Cathedral) is particularly famous, where 'celebrities' and politicians might be found in attendance...maybe praying for a 'successful' year ahead! We will soon be linking many of our favorite Dominican Republic Christmas food choices to the relevant Dominican recipe pages, so please check back soon...or pick up our
XML link (explained here) and you'll be 'alerted' as soon as the site is updated. Wishing you a very 'Happy Christmas' vacation in the Dominican Republic, if you are lucky enough to be visiting our homeland at this lovely time!
Esther
Return to the top of the Dominican Republic Christmas foods page
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
- Click on the HTML link code below.
- Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment,
your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.
