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| Map of the Dominican Republic |
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| Conch Shell |
The Dominican Republic is located on the island of
Hispaniola and shares a border with Haiti. Originally, the Tainos tribe made up
the sole population of the island but was introduced to the Europeans in 1492
with the arrival of Christopher Columbus.(Dominican Republic) In 1503, the Spanish brought African
slaves to work on the plantations. In
the 1600s, France occupied what would become Haiti, which ruled the entire
island, including the Dominicans. In 1844, the Dominicans fought and won their
independence but deferred rule to Spain. Their independence was fully
reestablished in 1865. In 1916 the U.S. set up military occupation but
retracted in 1924 (Dominican Republic). This diverse residence of the Dominican
Republic allowed for very eclectic and original traditional recipes. Because of
the proximity to the water, Dominicans enjoy various types of fish and
conch. They also grow yams, cassava,
sweet potatoes and white potatoes. They use large amounts of meat, which
includes beef, pork, chicken and goat. Another main ingredient in dishes is
coconut and plantains (Culture of the Dominican Republic). There are also
dishes that pertain to each region of the Dominican Republic and hold relevance
to the different occupations of the island. In the southeast, there is more of
an English influence, which led to the introduction of the johnnycake and the
dumpling. The southwestern region is
close to Haiti and therefore has adopted the dish, ‘Chen Chen’, a pudding made
with cornmeal. In the central highlands, a certain type of Creole celery root
usually flavors soups, especially cream of squash. African influence is showing
through many types of stews including tripe. (dr1.com) Through out the
Caribbean, coffee and cacao is grown. Specifically, Coffee was first brought to
the Dominican Republic in 1715 and Cacao was planted over 160 years later in
1880s(Morris and Ismail 53). Both of these crops are very important to the
economy of the island in terms of money intake from crops. Coffee is now the
Dominican’s second largest crop and there has been a higher demand for
chocolate (cacao) since the 1970s (Morris and Ismail 53).
References
Culture
of the Dominican Republic. Elizabeth Vanepsgarlo.2011. Countries and Their
Cultures. 1 December 2011. < http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Dominican-Republic.html#b>
.
Dominican Republic. 10 August 2011.U.S. Department of
State. 1 December 2011.
Dominican Republic Food. 1996-2010.Dr1.com. 1
December 2011.
Morris,
Kerry-Ann, and Nafisah Ismail. Dominican Republic. Wisconson: Gareth
Stevens Publishing, 2004.
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