As I sit here enjoying my breakfast of scrambled turkey eggs, locally produced yogurt and fried yellow cheese, and fresh squeezed OJ, I remember worrying about what I would eat after I moved here. Dominicans seem to be very happy living off of nothing but rice and beans, boiled yuca and fried salami, but I quickly get tired of such bland food.
Dumping lots of hot sauce or caynenne pepper on the beans spices things up a bit but there are plenty of other exciting foods to eat. For example, I had a delicious octopus for lunch yesterday and a delicious whole roast pig last week. No, I didn't eat it all myself. Living so near the ocean we have all types of fish available but sometimes it is tough to get it fresh. Picking up guinea hen, goose, goat or duck at the supermarket wasnt all that easy in NJ either.
Vegetables are another rarity in the dominican diet. After living here a few months I was getting some real cravings for some tasty veggies. The maid now makes a great vegetable dish with brocolli and pak choi and makes sweet fried carrots like mom makes too. Red tomatos are hard to get because dominicans seem to like them green. Last night we had a nice corn desert dish made from ground fresh corn (from our own field) boiled together with milk and suger.
I know my one year anniversary here is coming as the mango trees have bloomed and soon will be fruiting again. We have all sorts of great fruits here. All variaties of citris, avacados, cacoa, mangos, coconuts, guanavana, chinola, watermelons can be found in the colmados.
Most imported foods can be bought here but there are a few items that just are not for sale. The only way to get real maple syrup, rasberry jam, or Dr. Pepper is to ask someone to bring it down on the plane. Maple syrup is so rare it seems like most north americans living here have a jealously guarded stash somewhere. Thankfully, all sorts of delicious jams are produced here: strawberry, batata con pina, pina, chinola. Rolled up in a crepe they make a really fancy breakfast or on whole wheat toast it is hard to beat. Another great afternoon snack is sliced white cheese, crackers and jam.
Thats about it for today. I am tagging on some unrelated pictures to the end of this. I guess I will go have some fresh chocolate milk, straight from this afternoons milking and go to bed.
