¡Buen provecho! (Bon appétit)

Lunch here is the biggest meal of the day, which was an adjustment since my biggest plate in the US was always dinner. Dominicans take their lunches very seriously, and it’s supposed to hold you over for the rest of the day. If it’s not ready right at 12, it’s late, and if it doesn’t have rice, it doesn’t even count.

  • La Bandera- This directly translates to “the flag,” a nod to the red, white and blue of the country’s flag. It is the quintessential Dominican lunch, which consists of white rice (the white), beans (the red), and some sort of meat (the blue). If you’re lucky and your Doña spoils you how mine spoiled me, you may also get an avocado the size of your head, some vegetables, or plátanos maduros (sweet plantains -  essentially fried bananas) on the side.

 

Snack 4 pm

  • Jugo Natural - The juice culture here is real. Any fruit can be turned into a juice or a smoothie: limes, orange, papaya, passion fruit, the list goes on and on. Since living here, I’ve learned to add brown sugar (rather than white sugar), vanilla, and sometimes even oats to make them creamier, and it works!!!

Dinner 7 pm

Dinner here tends to look a lot more like an American breakfast. It’s a lot smaller than lunch and often includes eggs or potatoes and some sort of ham variation, like salami or hot dog.