Dominican Cooking - Burn and serve?

GringoRubio

Bronze
Oct 15, 2015
1,162
116
63
As I have some free time, I've started to cook again and I've made several dishes that were a big hit with the neighbors. I've worked with chefs and was the chef/cook at many restaurants until I "got stupid" and graduated from college to have my soul sucked out as a white collar worker.

My style is low temperature cooking that often takes hours to produce a dish where the flavors are enhanced and complex, the vegetables are front and center, the meat falls off the bone, and umami rules. The neighbors are clambering for more.

I've been comparing this to the Dominican style of cooking which I can only describe as "burn and serve". Everything is high-temperature frying or boiling over a high flame. Oil flows freely. Chicken is fried with a hard shell outside, tough dry interior, it tastes like it was barely cooked as it has a distinctly raw, pungent smell to it, and the tough meat needs to get picked out of teeth. The use of horrible flavoring cubes seems to be endemic. It's often difficult to taste the food because of the extremely high salt content and when I can it just seems bland. I'm a big fan of vegetables, but that too is sad story.

And, what's up with the giant plate of rice? I get handed a plate that I put in the center of the table thinking that there are more guests coming. Nope, it's mine.

I have to say that the "Pollo Asado" is a wonderful exception. Bless the barbacoa. I'm definitely an umami fan. I need to try the pork now too now that my auto-immune is better.

However, am I wrong? Please, tell me I'm an idiot and where to find fantastic food.

Also, where can I find chilis? I guess the dried stuff at La Sirena will need to do.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
You have pretty much nailed Dominican cooking. It is what it is and you did not mention my least favorite item used here, the plantain.*

As for spices. *Dominicans are pretty much unaware of spices on the island that spice forgot.
Dominicans cannot handle a "heat level" of chilies much over a 0.1 from 1 to 10. *

When I find some chilies I dry them for future use and use whatever I can find such as the Badia crushed red pepper and cayenne powders. *
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
In my experience, temperature plays an important part in producing the final product. Cooking over a wood fire is the hardest to control. Pushing fuel in and pulling fuel out is hit and miss at best. 10 or 20 degrees is often enough to give some delicate foods that not quite "burnt" taste but charred. Frying garlic comes to mind.

It took me awhile to adjust to cooking on a gas range. I miss the fine temperature control of an electric range or even better an induction element range. With one of these, I could easily maintain a simmer. One my gas range it's a matter of a fast rolling boil or a slower rolling boil.*

Baking with gas was a whole new world. 20 degrees cooler in the oven, at times needing a baking time adjustment as well.*
I am sure that a lot of family cooks here learned from their Mothers or neighbors. If they have never seen a real simmer, then a boil is the norm. I can get rice cooked without burning any to the bottom of the pot, but many cannot. Sometimes this is a function of the range sometimes the cook. Here I believe I have heard that the burned portion of the the rice on the bottom of the pot is some sort of delicacy and may even be produced intentionally. Me, I prefer an easier pot cleanup that doesn't necessitate me scouring off the non-stick coatings. Granted many here use aluminum or steel pots without coatings so a scouring pad helps with the burnt on residue.

I think we develop a taste for the familiar over time and it becomes the norm. Cheap burners without fine temperature control, aluminum pots and pans that conduct a lot of heat very quickly and just a lack of exposure to how some foods should be prepared and cooked (to the taste of foreigners) all contribute to foods that are overcooked, cooked too quickly or have a charred aftertaste.

Some Dominican dishes are wonderful. Sancocho for example. Luckily, this dish requires long time boiling and has lots of liquid so it neither burns easily and only the vegetable portion can get overcooked. Truly a dish that is well suited to the equipment and cooking style of the DR.*

As for BBQ chicken, I often find it to be overly dry and by extension over cooked. Better to need new teeth than to deal with food poisoning, but really, a desiccated mummy has more moisture than some of the chicken I've had here. *
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
I rarely see someone extol the virtues of electric stoves. I know the induction electric stoves are better than the former electric stoves which I hated. *Professionals almost always use gas for cooking. There is a reason.*

There is a continual search here for those select restaurants here that actually make what you like at a reasonable price as those places come and go.*
 

jinty05

Bronze
Feb 11, 2005
925
38
48
In Santiago you can buy fresh chillis at El Encanto or Trebol....costs approximately $9-14 pesos for a tray

 

GringoRubio

Bronze
Oct 15, 2015
1,162
116
63
I think we develop a taste for the familiar over time and it becomes the norm. Cheap burners without fine temperature control, aluminum pots and pans that conduct a lot of heat very quickly and just a lack of exposure to how some foods should be prepared and cooked (to the taste of foreigners) all contribute to foods that are overcooked, cooked too quickly or have a charred aftertaste.


I think I have the only set of copper clad pots. Copper conducts heat easily and helps to smooth out the hot spots.

I'm impressed with my Dominican Family. I brought a cheap non-stick frying pan thinking they would scour it clean, but if I could teach them then I might be able to risk a better set. However, they one upped me. The pan appears perfectly good except that everything sticks to it. I'm pretty sure that they burned it which takes 700 degrees F and gives off a highly toxic fluoride smoke. I'm trying to toss it, but it keeps getting rescued.

As for learning to cook, I did it out of self defense. My mother was chronic workaholic and a university professor, but she just couldn't surrender her dominion of the kitchen. I remember hearing her tires screech in the driveway and having dinner served 10 minutes later. Hamburger night, but the patties had a hard crunchy exterior coating but completely raw and cool to the touch center. Bless her. God gave her many talents, but cooking was not one of them.
 

Gadfly

member
Jul 7, 2016
1,058
660
113
The breakfasts in the street cafes are tasty, try a couple eggs w/red onions & vinegar, mangu, fried cheese, slice of avocado, boiled platano, and cafe. *Or go to la sirena in the morning for same. *And diced fruit for desert. *Healthy diet.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
It may very well be that my current gas stove just doesn't have the fine burner control that may be available on commercial models or other consumer models. At both ends of the dial I find my stove to be lacking. It takes way too long to bring three or four liters of water to a boil and at the other end the flame is still too intense for some of the things I would like to gently simmer such as gravy or thick pie fillings. I don't have a lot of experience with gas appliances in the kitchen but I am adapting by trial and error.*

The dials on my stove have only so much range of movement then hit a stop and will turn no further. An appliance with true variable control from full to almost completely off might be what I need.*
 

ju10prd

On Vacation!
Nov 19, 2014
4,210
0
36
Accountkiller
I do not agree that Dominicans are pretty much unaware of spices. Perhaps that is the case with the Dominicans that you have come across, but proper Dominican food probably uses more spices than many northern cuisines.

I have posted before than the older generation living in the campo have their herb gardens at the side of their humble dwellings and you would be surprised what you find there. And it is they that have been brought up to cook on charcoal outside stoves and so slow cooking is the norm.

One of the finest herbs commonly used in Dominican cooking is cilantro largo and it imparts a lovely flavor to the food. I have grown fond of this herb and use it a lot now too.

As we all know salt and the salty condiments that so many of the younger generation choose to use, often disguise good flavors, but frankly the younger generation are not interested in spending mornings behind the stove using herbs and vegetables slow cooking to generate enjoyable dishes like the older women do. Excessively fried food is equally unpleasant when in your face all the time but I wonder where this style of cooking came from?

Got me in the mood to pay another weekend visit to my young lady's abuela in deepest campo between Sabana Grande de Boya and Cevicos for a country treat.
 

GringoRubio

Bronze
Oct 15, 2015
1,162
116
63
It may very well be that my current gas stove just doesn't have the fine burner control that may be available on commercial models or other consumer models. At both ends of the dial I find my stove to be lacking. It takes way too long to bring three or four liters of water to a boil and at the other end the flame is still too intense for some of the things I would like to gently simmer such as gravy or thick pie fillings. I don't have a lot of experience with gas appliances in the kitchen but I am adapting by trial and error.*

The dials on my stove have only so much range of movement then hit a stop and will turn no further. An appliance with true variable control from full to almost completely off might be what I need.*

Entirely possible as it's hard to find a quality stove here.

Thick stuff is hard to do on an open flame. I'd go the double boiler route or get a heat diffuser.

http://www.thekitchn.com/persnickety-sto-20009
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
7,375
163
0
....And, what's up with the giant plate of rice? I get handed a plate that I put in the center of the table thinking that there are more guests coming. Nope, it's mine...............

Yeah, what's up with all this dry rice. I for one am not a big fan of rice but at least serve some gravy to keep it from being so dry and bland. The host gets offended because i didn't eat the five gallons of rice and wants to know if I don't like their cooking. How do you be honest and say NO. I just lie and say I had just eaten before I arrived.

But the truth be told you are being served from a person with a loving heart who just doesn't understand my eating habits are quite different than theirs.

I had two different apartments and both ovens could never maintain a low temperature of between 275-325, so every so often I had to open the oven door to let out some heat. No way to slow cook some beef ribs.........
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
We just had to replace our stove and the gap in the market is huge - for the standard models the average price is around US$500, and when you go upmarket you're confronted with US$5,000 price tags!

Similar with good pans - cheapish and very nasty from La Sirena, etc. or wildly overpriced Le Creuset type sets. Not much in between.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
Crikey! For that price I would expect to be able to leave a pile of ingredients on the appliance, push a button and come back to a completed meal when it dings...*
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
The breakfasts in the street cafes are tasty, try a couple eggs w/red onions & vinegar, mangu, fried cheese, slice of avocado, boiled platano, and cafe. *Or go to la sirena in the morning for same. *And diced fruit for desert. *Healthy diet.

As for mangu and boiled plantains, I would rather eat grass clippings. Eggs with vinegar? *Blahhhh....
 

bigwhiskey

New member
Aug 29, 2010
383
4
0
Try offset cooking a slab or two of ribs and have damm near every woman in the family telling you its not enough coals or you need to put over the fire what I love most is they continue to open lid of grill and when you say something your the bad guy.Worse part is it's not the first time I have cooked them.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
I disagree, i guess it depends, as in all places in the wide world, on who cooks......
I happen to be in the restaurant buisness too, not as a cook, mind u, but nevertheless know my way around a kitchen and more importantly ( for me :) ) , enjoy good cooking.

Pollo guisdao ( i think ) is the norm in my campo. Chicken pieces cooked for hours in simmering water, peppers, cilantro, olives, c?pres, etc...all go in at diffrent, specific times....... and its delicious !! When its my wife that cooks........ MIL and SILs much, much less....
Other example is spare ribs, forgot the campo name. Cooked for hours in a gravy type sauce, the meat just falls off the bone.

As for herbs and condiments, our fellow poster got it right, herb gardens are the norm in the campo.
As for hot spices, it is true, most dominicans are not fan. I grow my own, no idea what they are called.
 

josh2203

Bronze
Dec 5, 2013
1,570
525
113
I disagree, i guess it depends, as in all places in the wide world, on who cooks......
I happen to be in the restaurant buisness too, not as a cook, mind u, but nevertheless know my way around a kitchen and more importantly ( for me :) ) , enjoy good cooking.

Pollo guisdao ( i think ) is the norm in my campo. Chicken pieces cooked for hours in simmering water, peppers, cilantro, olives, c?pres, etc...all go in at diffrent, specific times....... and its delicious !! When its my wife that cooks........ MIL and SILs much, much less....
Other example is spare ribs, forgot the campo name. Cooked for hours in a gravy type sauce, the meat just falls off the bone.

As for herbs and condiments, our fellow poster got it right, herb gardens are the norm in the campo.
As for hot spices, it is true, most dominicans are not fan. I grow my own, no idea what they are called.

I have to agree, strongly.

The only "burnt" thing I have seen/eaten is burnt rice "concon" (not sure if you spell it like that), but that is done on purpose (well, by accident/side product, but it's not thrown away, everyone wants to eat it).

One of the best dished my wife prepares often when it's cold outside, is chicken soup with huge chunks of chicken and white rice. The list of herbs/vegetables that goes there, is quite long, nothing unnatural. If we are to get something from colmado, and they are out of just ONE herb, as it's usually me who is sent to find things, I get trouble...

Yes, occasionally "sopitas" are used, but my wife practically hates them... Whenever the same effect can be reached naturally, that way is always taken...

As for the dry rice mentioned above, not really sure about this either, as the only times I've eaten/seen other people eating it, was when something quick was fixed if we arrived late to home. Otherwise rice is never eaten dry.

I was thought by my parents to respect every type of food, and me declining a meal is something I only do when I can get sick or something. Call me weird, but the meals I have eaten (at home, not at restaurants) in the DR are the best ones I have eaten...