A bit on Dominican Food

So far the adjustment to the food here has been a little difficult—I’m not used to eating so many fried/salty/starchy/heavy foods! Though the food is good, it has been hard eating so much of these things that I’m not used to eating—there is not a whole lot of variety and they eat A LOT of food here! The main staples are rice, beans, yucca, and plantains. My favorite is definitely rice and beans!...Plantain is also growing on me though. I’ve also had soup (kind of like chicken noodle soup) and spagetti (I’m not sure what the sauce is that they put on it, but it is definitely not what we use in the US!).

(fried cheese)

For breakfast I usually have a whole wheat bun with cheese melted in it, though I have also had mashed plantains, cereal, and fruit. Lunch is the biggest meal for Dominicans (my host parents come home from work to eat it). We usually have some variation of beans and rice, a salad/tomatoes, and sometimes fish. There are always TONS of avocados at lunch (my host father eats multiple avocados at every meal). Today we had plantains in two forms, steamed (I I think?) and sliced/fried with spaghetti and avocado. Dinner usually varies—I’ve had mashed plantains, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, soup…Last night I had plantains with fried cheese (the cheese is white and almost looks like thick slices of tofu that has been fried—it squeeks when you chew it!)

Throughout the day we usually have “meriendas” or snacks—my favorite is mangos. The mangos here are so sweet and juicy! There is also always homemade fruit juice in my house—my host dad is very into fresh fruit juice! I’ve had mango, papaya, passionfruit, orange, watermelon…yum!

(plantains, rice, & beans)