Dominican pots & pans question

[dv8]

few points:
gorgon: damn it, you have le creuset cookware? tell the lady it costs more than her yearly salary, that should keep them in check.
jabejuventus: dominicans do not clean their pots. it's a profession. i forgot what they are called but basically it's just folks who go around the campo/barrio and for a small rate polish those pots. and believe it or not this is done with fire.
finally, the OP: those things are not even cheap. i wanted to buy one for the dogs since they ate two plastic bowls. i saw the price and nah, could not be bothered.

 

[the gorgon]

few points:
gorgon: damn it, you have le creuset cookware? tell the lady it costs more than her yearly salary, that should keep them in check.
jabejuventus: dominicans do not clean their pots. it's a profession. i forgot what they are called but basically it's just folks who go around the campo/barrio and for a small rate polish those pots. and believe it or not this is done with fire.
finally, the OP: those things are not even cheap. i wanted to buy one for the dogs since they ate two plastic bowls. i saw the price and nah, could not be bothered.

yeaah; then she would get her motoconcho marido to come kill me to heist them.

 

[PeterInBrat]

Many Dominicans are still coming from households with kerosene stoves. They tend to leave a layer of soot on the outside of pots and pans and besides looking bad, it can spread to any other surface it contacts. So they make a real effort to get it off. I think one trick is they use a little kero as a solvent before washing again with soap. I used to use a dab of Coleman fuel to help clean my pots after I went camping with them.

There are many trivial items that we simply take for granted. When I was staying with a GF about 10 years ago, she had a single light bulb for her house that was wired in without a switch, so that to turn it off and on her son had to get on a chair to unscrew the lightbulb every time. I went to the local hardware store and got her a pull chain that screwed into the socket so they could turn it off on without all of the fuss. My GF had never seen a pull chain for a light before. It's the same as the concept of a device made just for opening cans.

Dominicans are also constantly amused by our lack of "common sense." I had this happen to me when I tried to get a chicken to go after a giant cockroach. "Chickens don't eat cockroaches!" Who knew? Apparently, just about anyone over 5 in the DR...

 

[jabejuventus]

dominicans do not clean their pots. it's a profession. i forgot what they are called but basically it's just folks who go around the campo/barrio and for a small rate polish those pots. and believe it or not this is done with fire.

Spoke to my wife after my post. Some of what you say is true. Miesposa says, though, that "brillando" is more cultural than anything else. Something along the lines of Dominican households always "trapiando."

 

[jinty05]

This would break my heart. I adore my Le Creuset cookware but do not permit anyone but myself to use or clean.

i learned real fast. the first time a housekeeper took steel wool to my Le Creuset dutch oven, i knew, then and there, that certain things are best done yourself.

 

[PeterInBrat]

Are you 100% sure on the chicken/cockroach thing?

They apparently have some kind of stink gland that makes them inedible. The chicken was practically stepping on it and showed no interest at all and they were telling me it was a waste of time...

 

[PeterInBrat]

I don't even let Americans handle my kitchen gear unless I'm directly supervising them. I've seen some obscene stupidity in supposedly professional kitchens. At one kitchen I was visiting that I use to manage, I had to stop them from tossing out a huge aluminum roasting pan set as scrap metal that was worth over $250. They also wanted to toss out some cast large iron skillets because they were rusty. They had been running them through the dishwasher.. ugh.

 

[Criss Colon]

"MANY Dominicans still use kerosene stoves"???????????????????????????
Since 1986 I have not seen one yet!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
A propane stove/burner, that is not adjusted correctly WILL leave a "sooty" pan.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

[AlterEgo]

"MANY Dominicans still use kerosene stoves"???????????????????????????
Since 1986 I have not seen one yet!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
A propane stove/burner, that is not adjusted correctly WILL leave a "sooty" pan.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

I've never seen a kerosene stove either - many of our DR neighbors still cook with wood, they have a little 'casita' or tent out behind their house where they do their cooking. Now I'm sure THAT leaves soot.

 

[PeterInBrat]

I've never seen a kerosene stove either - many of our DR neighbors still cook with wood, they have a little 'casita' or tent out behind their house where they do their cooking. Now I'm sure THAT leaves soot.

I've seen them in the campo, but it was a long time ago. They prob have switched to propane since then. The black pots issue hasn't gone away yet..

 

[Aguaita29]

Has no one ever seen a Dominican woman brillar her pans? Maybe it was an isolated case, but a Dominican domestic helper my wife and I had once took our pots and pans and made them shine. This was a somewhat dainty/petite gal. I couldn't figure out where she got the strength. I had to attribute it to skill and technique. Anybody?

They are called "brilladoras". They take away your pots and pans, and for a small feel, they bring them back shiny and spotless.
I understand they use a technique which first involves fire to smoke the pans and then using a thick scrub all over them.

 

[AlterEgo]

I've seen them in the campo, but it was a long time ago. They prob have switched to propane since then. The black pots issue hasn't gone away yet..

Peter, they have NOT switched to propane. These are the people who live in the campo around us NOW.

 

[dv8]

everyone i know in the campo uses fogon. with wood. some folks have gas stoves but this is secondary cooking device.

 

[bizzyboneizo]

i had to test my girl friend and use a metal spatula on a coated pan and i was surprised when she said stop then i was like you are ready student

 

[pollogringo]

i had to test my girl friend and use a metal spatula on a coated pan and i was surprised when she said stop then i was like you are ready student

lol.. You sound like Mr. Miyagi.

 

[jabejuventus]

lol.. You sound like Mr. Miyagi.

You mean it wasn't? ? ? ? ? )