“PECAO FRITO” in the Dominican Republic is a must!

When visiting the Dominican Republic, a piece of paradise in the Caribbean, eating fresh fried fish at the beach is a must, it’s part of our folclor; you will get in contact with our way of enjoying life in a healthy way!!!!!

From the Tainos we have inherited our love for fish, we have good fishermen, specially for fried fish or “pecao frito” (pescado frito) as pronounced by most Dominicans. Although we are an island, fish is much more expensive than meat. Dominican household does not often cook fish as they do with chicken, the number one meat; depending of the region, fish is prepared in different ways. However there is a way fish is prepared we all love and that is fried fish at the beach!!

Practically on all the coast of the Dominican Republic, along the beach and seaside towns,  you will find fresh fish, that is, the catch of the day! There are the typical small places, made of four strong wooden posts and a zinc or palm tree roof, along the beach with a few chairs and a small table! Originally all these chairs were made of “Guano”, but during the past few years, plastic chairs and tables are substituting these chairs.

Close to the beach you will normally find rows of food stands, with a large metal “basin” , locally made, with coal used as fuel, and a large frying pan, where different kind of whole fishes are fried after being rubbed with salt, oregano, coated in flour and then deep fried until crispy! 

Most of the time, the frying oil is reused, which many natives believe gives the fish a special tasty touch!
 

When you are at all these stands you get the feeling of a  Fried Fish Fair, here you are being offered delicious whole fried fish in different sizes/weight, by some guys whose job is to bring customers to the stand they work for! The price of the whole fish is between US$ 8.00 and US$ 10.00, but it will be determined by its size/weight and type! The most popular fishes are the Loro (Parrotfish) and the Chillo (Red Snapper). 

You can buy already fried fish or you can ask for the type of fish you want them to fry for you from the fresh variety they have available! The fish will be always served with lemon slices; to eat with the fish you have a variety of fried food such as plantain(tostones), sweet potato (batata), cassava rolls (bollo de yuca) and Johnny cake  (Yaniqueque), introduced by Afro-descendants coming from other Caribbean islands!

You can also go to a restaurant in town or close to the beach, for a more refined ambience, but you will miss the typical Dominican atmosphere! A beer, normally Presidente, is ordered, as well as, soft drinks for the children and at the rythm of a Bachata or a Merengue, which are the loudly played, you will eat your fried fish! Dominicans will prefer to eat their fish with the fingers; knives and forks (plastic ones) will be ignored, to fully enjoy every bit of their fish!

Dominican Republic has it all, awesome tropical sceneries, beautiful beaches,  mountains, rivers, our unique Larimar stone and friendly people who enjoy life in a simple way!!

It's all time coffee time in the Dominican Republic!

Coffee plants have their origin in Africa, and our first coffee plant is originally from Ethiopia.

In the time of the colonization of the Americas, the Dutch are said to have introduced the coffee plant (Coffea Arabica L) between 1726 and 1735 to Surinam and from the French island of Martinique to the island of Saint Domingue (the island of Hispaniola), specifically to the west side of the island, that is Haiti and from there it was introduced in the eastern side of the island, that is now Dominican Republic.

 It is believed that the first seeds were planted by the Spaniards in the provinces of Barahona, the region of our unique national stone Larimar, and Neyba. The first coffee company with industrial production and internal commerce was registered in the Dominican Republic in December 12, 1917! The coffee export business started in 1935 with the largest coffee plantations located in Barahona!

Since the native Indians didn’t know coffee and by the time it arrived in the eastern side of the Hispaniola, few of them were still alive, we assume our coffee habits started with our Spanish heritage and followed by our African heritage!

Coffee became part of our Dominican tradition; every day we start with the first cup of coffee when we wake up, before breakfast, than we have a cup of coffee when we arrive at work, then we have another cup of coffee when we take a break, another cup of coffee after we had our midday meal, then we have a cup of coffee later on in the afternoon and there are those who still have another cup of coffee in the evening.

The first thing you will be asked when visiting a Dominican family is “would you like a cup of coffee?” If you are in the city or in a town, the cup of coffee will be served pure and you will add the white or brown sugar as per your taste, but if you are in a rural area, most probably you will be served the coffee already sweetened!. The Dominican coffee is really dark black, more like a turkish coffee!

With the cup of coffee, depending where the cup of coffee has been offered to you, comes a conversation that will have to do with business, a job application, a family update, an interesting gossip, politics, sports, etc. If the Dominican coffee drinker is superstitious, specially she would love to have somebody read her empty cup of coffee turned upside down so that the drops left in the cup will form “figures” after being dried on the burner. The specialist in this “art” will foretell future and the future of the future!!!

Coffee will be the used to keep us awake, you’ll find it in the funeral house as a treat, on the street, oh yes; we have hot coffee vendors on the street!    

Within the eco tourism programs in the Dominican Republic you’ll find the Coffee Routes, which will bring you in contact with coffee agriculturists of the area, enjoy their folklore in their natural environment. This will encourage them to reforestation, to identify themselves with their habitat and activate their cultural traditions.

Consider including in your forthcoming visit to the Dominican Republic an eco tour, private or in group, and have the experience of drinking a cup of authentic Dominican coffee of the rural area, prepared either in an espresso coffee pot or made the original way, that is, coffee beans are dried in the sun, roasted and grinded, this ground coffee is placed in a homemade cloth filter, resembling a small butterfly net, “colador”, evoking nostalgia for those good old times and boiling water is then poured in the “colador”, strained or sieved and served in a typical metal or ceramic cup! This ground coffee is called “cafe de pilón”, very, very tasty!

DOMINICAN "R" US

Do you like to watch?

People all over the world like to watch but Dominicans like to watch a little bit more and we give you the opportunity to watch too!! We have in the #DominicanRepublic, whale watching tours, bird watching tours, carnival watching tours and other watching tours. Right now its time for whale watching tours, which started in January until end of March.

Every winter, the majority of the North Atlantic Humpback whale population (approximately 12,000 whales), migrate between 2,000 and 4,000 miles from their northern feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine, the east coast of Canada, Greenland and Iceland, to the warm Caribbean waters of the Samana Bay on the north coast of the Dominican Republic to reproduce.
Due to the mating season, from late January to late March, males are very active to "show off" to the females, making Samana one of the best places in the world to whale watch, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

If you are planning to come to this marvelous side of the Hispaniola island during this time, don't miss the unforgettable experience of watching these humpback whales, contact your travel agents to arrange this tour for you.

Dominican Carnival

During the months of February the city of Santo Domingo and different towns in the Dominican Republic celebrate carnival, one of the most colorful traditions and more cheerful festivities in the Dominican Republic. The origins of Carnival date back to 1520, during the colonial period. Some researchers say the first Carnival events took place as a celebration of a visit by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, when its inhabitants disguised themselves as Moors and Christians. However, it wasn't always this way, between 1822 and 1844, costumes disappeared almost completely because of the Haitian occupation!!! After the country achieved its independence on February 27, 1844, the costumes were no longer associated with church celebrations. they evolved into actual carnivals.

Each town or city will exhibit their culture, folklore, and heritage in these parades with colorful disguises, music and dances; for example, the Guloyas or Buloyas from San Pedro de Macorís are part of the Dominican culture and history and they are considered as humanity cultural heritage (by the UNESCO). According to history, the Guloyas are descendants of the "cocolos" (black immigrants) who came from some British Caribbean islands and their main characteristics is their use of masks. The La Vega Carnival is the most popular and is definitely something that you don't want to miss. The Dominican Republic African heritage is reflected in the wildly colourful masks and costumes at La Vega Carnival, the masks from La Vega are unmistakable because they are extremely frightening, many times grotesque very elaborated and expensive; they are highly decorated with rhinestones and feathers and other materials, all handmade!! You will find merengue and salsa dancing at all the parades, every sunday of the month of February.

So, if you are going to visit the Dominican Republic in February, don't forget to include to watch one of these carnival's celebration and learn more about their traditions and cultures or plan with your travel agents for next year if you could not make it this time!!!