Wooahh Silver! Ok, they cook the living daylights out of meat because the majority doesn't know how to prepare it. Sear, braise etc. The cook times are excessive and the meat that remains would be inedible if not doused in the same sauce they use for everything. 165F kills all bacteria. I've had maids that cook red meat or pork for over an hour!! They cook literally everything blast furnace style. No way beans need to boil.on high for 30 minutes after they are already soft!. Blast furnace eggs in oil! I worked in restaurants through college and I cook avidly till today. I don't care where the meat comes from, you need to know how to select it. Then you need to understand seasoning, and fundamental cooking processes. I used to buy the pork from a carnicero in Las Galeras. He had this nasty bloody tree stump and part of a carcass hanging from a tree. Now, most Dominicans would say "dame 2 libra de cerdo". This guy will give you whatever the heck he wants to and hack it up with a rotted, rusted bloody machete. He would let me cut out my loin chops myself! I would slice off a gorgeous hunk and then he would want to hack it up. I said, no ill take the whole piece home like that. He said no one has ever done this lol. Now, I can get it home and prep it to be cooked properly. The same with the beef. Try asking for a a chuck cut (which is the "carne 7" in Spanish). They don't have it. They sell you hacked up leg which has zero fat. You need to buy beef or pork at places like pricesmart or an upscale meat joint in the city if you need a pork shoulder, or rib roast.
