Grocery list help please...

[jivequeen]

I am ready and waiting! I love both Lebanese and Moroccan food. (I do variations on their cuisines but am not an expert in either.) We all need to make adjustments. If you tell us the most important elements I am sure we will have a great taste sensation.

Looking forward to a most Yummy chicken/bean/rice dish. Don't forget to tell us which beans to use!

Jivequeen

 

[jivequeen]

I must go to bed! I will be dreaming of the DR and the wonderful food there and hoping that I might be able to reproduce some of it. I envy you Kaki to be there to do the "real thing".

I will check back later as I hope there will be a recipe for chicken/beans/rice for all of us to try.

JQ

 

[PICHARDO]

I am ready and waiting! I love both Lebanese and Moroccan food. (I do variations on their cuisines but am not an expert in either.) We all need to make adjustments. If you tell us the most important elements I am sure we will have a great taste sensation.

Looking forward to a most Yummy chicken/bean/rice dish. Don't forget to tell us which beans to use!

Jivequeen

I'm going to give you some ideas as soon as I find the correct translations for the Dominican names we use for the ingredients!

Hope you can give me some time on it? As my eyes are not that young any longer...

I'll use my customary ways of thinking some great receipts you'll love, it just takes time to recall the best ones!

 

[PICHARDO]

Anybody knows a quick way I could to translate English to Spanish for cooking stuff in the net??!!??

 

[jivequeen]

Pichardo,

I will wait for as long as it takes. I am sure it will be a worthwhile wait. I too have to do things when my old body kicks into action. No rush for me. Kaki may be in a different position if she is also looking for such a recipe.

Good night all,

JQ

 

[jivequeen]

PS - Pichardo,

I hope you have an alternative to a tajine. I don't have one as much as I believe it is a great tool. Kaki won't have one in the DR I am sure.

JQ

 

[PICHARDO]

PS - Pichardo,

I hope you have an alternative to a tajine. I don't have one as much as I believe it is a great tool. Kaki won't have one in the DR I am sure.

JQ

Not surprisingly they have them in the DR, many Lebanese and Moroccans, remember???

Most people don't really use them for cooking, but to place them as dinner table centers with decorations of fake foods and stuff like that.
The paintings on them are just as colorful and crafty as the ones used in Morocco!

Most people don't realize that the DR is the real melting pot, where everybody mostly comes from all existing parts of the known and some extinct countries in the world. Most traditional foods have been incorporated and later "Dominicanized" by the next generations with alternating Dominican foods to allow the "exotics" from having to be imported just for that.

Where else in the world can you say that Queso de Bola is better than the Dutch's Edammer!!! Ah!!! The power of trying to keep the traditional foods has made the DR a pearl of the culinary arts.

Something that strikes very little people that can barely notice that Dominicans keep the same Buccaneer’s traditions with the use of salt in almost everything imaginable...

Dominican Salami was the alternative of many Italians that arrived to the DR looking for fertile lands and steep mountains.

Ron? Crackers? Dulce de Leche? Carne Fria? Carne Seca Salada?

You have much to learn about the Dominican Republic still...

I laugh when I hear seasoned Chefs say that Dominican foods are bland and unfinished, but they all fail to understand that it's because of it that so many can so easily adapt to it. They just add their final ingredient to every known dish and who's to say theirs is the best?????

The funniest part is that, not even a Dominican that has never left the DR's soil for a second in his life, has been able to taste every single dish of the Dominican Republic. A lifetime won't be enough for you to experience, what in some huge nations will take you months at most...

No Dominican ever alive or RIP can say he or she has done so...

So you see, every single day a new dish is Dominicanize, not by a 5 stars chef in some fancy Ristorante, but by some old or young girl looking to put the final touch on that homely dish from papa and mama...

 

[Chris]

You all must check out our own Aunt Clara's Dominican Cooking site.
DominicanCooking.com

 

[jivequeen]

Pichardo,
What an interesting post! I didn't know that the DR is a melting pot. I might have thought a melting pot of people from various Spanish speaking countries but not with respect to any others. Indeed, I have much to learn. The more you post the more I will learn!
JQ

 

[Kaki]

Chris, I've already printed the main pages of the Aunt Clara info, but there's too much there for me to do it all! I don't know which recipes I'll need so I may've taken a few that'll never be used. I may have to roll up to a beachside internet cafe to see what's there when I hit a wall on-site.

If you hear of a translator that can work on culinary terms, please let me know too! I'm using AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation which is often quite weak. I have a hard copy Spanish/English Dictionary, but it's just not as easy as plugging in a word, phrase or sentence into the online version, even if the results are dodgy at best.

Too bad on the 'shrooms. The chef at a resort I visited had Dominican mushrooms as one of his personal areas of interest and incorporated freshly handpicked specimens into his best offerings. I wanted to at least toss them into an omelette.

Thanks so much--again.

Kaki

 

[PICHARDO]

Ok:

So far I hope the translator on line I used is using the right names for the stuff I?m giving you:

What you need to make some Tipiles:

Trigo Vulgar = Bulgur Wheat
Cebollas Verdes = Green Onions
Cebollas Rojas = Red Onions
Piminetos Italianos = Italian Green Peppers
Pimientos Gustusos = ??? They?re small mild peppers (mixed)
Aceitunas Rellenas = Stuffed green Olives (Spanish)
Perejil fresco = Fresh Parsley
Limones = Limes
Mandarinas = Tangerines
Tomates = Tomatoes
Sal = Salt
Pimienta Negra = Ground Black Pepper
Apio = Celery
Aceite de Oliva extra virgin = Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Vinagre = Vinegar (not white)
How to make it:

Take the Wheat and wash it with water 3 times, make sure to check for little rocks and foreign stuff?
Use a deep mixing bowl, not a flat bottom but oblong, and dunk the wheat in it. Next you slowly pour already salted to taste room temperature water on it until it covers the wheat and reaches at least one inch over it. Cover with plastic wrap and place on a cool corner in your kitchen overnight.

The next day, uncover the bowl and let is stand exposed for 2 hours, then place in the refrigerator. Proceed to chop the onions, peppers, tomatoes into cubes and one or two sticks of celery as well minced.

Take the Spanish stuffed olives and slice them into discs, not too thick not too thin?
Take the wheat out of the refrigerator and place the already chopped ingredients mixing them as you add, take your time with it?

Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice atop the mix, make sure to add enough of it!

Next cut the Tangerines and squeeze the juice atop the mix, mix slowly now?

Add the black pepper to taste and check the salt and adjust if needed?

Cover again with the plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for two hours?
Take it out(if you?re to serve it now) add the Olive oil and Vinegar to taste, mix well making sure that the moist wheat releases some liquid as you mix?

Serve and enjoy!!!!

Some twists we do at times: We add peanuts or cashews, already diced into the mix?

You can omit the vinegar if you want to avoid the sour touch in the mix!!!

Some people use hot water to speed the wheat but it makes it too soft and little texture remains that way?

 

[PICHARDO]

I used the term "Pimientos" but in the DR we use "ajises" to refer to them. I did my best with the online translator but had to search too much to get the closest definition of the words in English...

Have you made Quipes yet? Not the recetas they have on line, but the real thing...
You see in the DR, they have become accustomed to make Quipes with the cheapest and fastest recetas. In reality Quipes must have the Wheat grounded with meat also instead as just for the filling. The thing is that so many people have taken to make them for selling that they omitted many things of the real receta, thus making the product cheaper to produce and make more profits.


Have you made Yaniqueques? Carne Fria? Champola? Guarapo de Pina? Mavi? Pega Palo? Morir Sonando? Ninos envueltos? Arroz con Pollo? Asopados?...

 

[jivequeen]

Tipiles - Pichardo - Is this another name for Tabbouleh? I have eaten and made a Lebanese version.

When you said in a previous post that one can add flavours to one's taste I can see that with this recipe. I have never had couscous with olives or orange juice (lemon is common) but it sounds good. One common ingredrient in the Lebanese version is mint. I am sure you are right about the texture of the bulgar being better preparing it your way. I suspect, however, that if the instant variety is available it will be easier for Kaki to produce. I wish my printer was working because I would surely print this recipe for future use.

Yaniqueques? Carne Fria? Champola? Guarapo de Pina? Mavi? Pega Palo? Morir Sonando? Ninos envueltos? Arroz con Pollo? Asopados?...
Quipes. Only the Arroz con Pollo sounds familiar (chicken and rice?) and maybe Carne Fria if that means some spicey meat. Perhaps you will give us the recipes.

Variety is the spice of life!! Right!

JQ

 

[PICHARDO]

Like I explained before, any culture that comes to the DR is assimilated by the proceeding generations and the foods are adapted very quickly...

Tipiles are NOT Tabbouleh in the precise elements in all, but the original version of what became and it's now called Tipiles. As you pointed out, mint is a primordial ingredient of Tabbouleh, yet not one single Dominican Tipile will have it...

Try it and let me know how it informs your taste buds...

 

[jivequeen]

Pichardo,

My bulgur is soaking, I have all the remaining ingredients ready to chop.

Next question. What do you serve it with? I think of this as a salad but want something with it. (I am presently in what is a lenten period for me - Old Orthodox Christian - the Nativity is January 7th and so I eat no animal/fish products at this time.) I am allowed shellfish and I think shrimp would be a great accompaniment. What manner of preparation would you suggest? The dish is very healthy and doesn't really need much more but I am interested in your comment. By the way, the soaking is no big deal and if one prepares for it I am sure the texture will exceed the flavour of the instant stuff. (I am sure Kaki can do it!)

I will surely tell you of the results.

Looking forward to Mmmm!

JQ

 

[PICHARDO]

Pichardo,

My bulgur is soaking, I have all the remaining ingredients ready to chop.

Next question. What do you serve it with? I think of this as a salad but want something with it. (I am presently in what is a lenten period for me - Old Orthodox Christian - the Nativity is January 7th and so I eat no animal/fish products at this time.) I am allowed shellfish and I think shrimp would be a great accompaniment. What manner of preparation would you suggest? The dish is very healthy and doesn't really need much more but I am interested in your comment. By the way, the soaking is no big deal and if one prepares for it I am sure the texture will exceed the flavour of the instant stuff. (I am sure Kaki can do it!)

I will surely tell you of the results.

Looking forward to Mmmm!

JQ

Tipiles is pretty much a stand alone dish...
But you can add shrimp if you like, I just don't know how will it come out in your taste buds...
Why not? Try it!

 

[jivequeen]

TIPELES

I made it following Pichardo's recipe but I doubt mine turned out as his would. I didn't get the proportions quite right. I added a lot of vegetables and didn't have enough bulgur to balance them. Also I used the juice of a whole lime and whole mandarin orange so it was very tart. I did not add any vinegar. I did add plain shrimp and it worked well as it cut the acidity of the dish. I really wished I had some Pita bread as this would make a wonderful filling as I made it.

I will try it again sometime with more bulgur. The texture of the cold soak of the bulgur was very good.

Thanks Pichardo for the new experience!

JQ

 

[PICHARDO]

TIPELES

I made it following Pichardo's recipe but I doubt mine turned out as his would. I didn't get the proportions quite right. I added a lot of vegetables and didn't have enough bulgur to balance them. Also I used the juice of a whole lime and whole mandarin orange so it was very tart. I did not add any vinegar. I did add plain shrimp and it worked well as it cut the acidity of the dish. I really wished I had some Pita bread as this would make a wonderful filling as I made it.

I will try it again sometime with more bulgur. The texture of the cold soak of the bulgur was very good.

Thanks Pichardo for the new experience!

JQ

The balance for the vegetables is that of a regular salad, most people get fooled by the strong taste of the bulgur and add too much...

The juice is a tad to provide an acid to counter the natural enzymes, as well as the mandarin is to taste...

I'm going to try some with your "add on" shrimp and see how it tastes!

The texture is great isn't it? Hope you get it turns out better next time around Mrs. Rachel Ray...

 

[Kaki]

I just remembered a friend saying a couple of years ago that his favourite thing was caracoles. In what state would I find them, and is there a traditional recipe?

I doubt I'll do the bulgar wheat thing...so is there another traditional usage for shrimp? At the hotels you find many menu items reflecting pesto and cream sauces that you'd see anywhere. Realizing that the DR is a mosaic of cultures from all over the world, those may be standard Dominican tastes as well, or are they? I'd like to follow a path of "when in Rome" for half the meals, the other half being more along the line of trying to duplicate some of the things I throw together at home with Dominican ingredients.

I'm getting excited! Can I use the hopping bunny here? :bunny:

Kaki

 

[Chirimoya]

Shrimp will be served 'al ajillo' - in garlic sauce, 'a la criolla' - in creole sauce (onions, tomatoes and green peppers) or with rice. Arroz con camarones is a sort of risotto, while asopao is a soupy rice with shrimps. There's also the Chinese-infuenced 'chof?n de camarones' (shrimp chow fan).

Aunt Clara has most of these recipes in her books and sites, as well as tipili and kipes (Dominican versions of Middle Eastern tabbouleh and kibbes).

DominicanCooking.com

edited to add - I haven't heard of people here eating caracoles, sorry.