Dominican food: Dominican baseball players offer their Dominican food recipes, Comida Dominicana!

Outside Miami and New York, it is pretty hard to find Dominican food and restaurants here in the States.  Most Americans could not even name what items are typical of Dominican food and cuisine.  The Dominican Baseball Guy recently wrote about cultural differences and adjustments that Dominican baseball players face when they come to the United States.

Along with differences in racial classifications mentioned in the previous blog post, the food is a big change for Dominican baseball players arriving in the States.  A common anecdote heard from Dominican players is that they just order chicken for months, until they learn more about the cuisine and learn the language.  Chicken is easy to order, one of the first "food words" that people learning a new language learn, and you can bet that most places serve some sort of chicken dish.  Also, it is the most common meat in the Dominican Republic, so most Dominican players probably prefer it anyway.

But for Dominican baseball players coming to the States, they want a taste of home.  Those that are not in New York or Miami, the only place to get traditional Dominican food is strait from the source, ie from Dominicans cooking in their own homes.  Vladimir Guerrero's mother is known to make some great Dominican food and share with his Dominican teammates.

And even some MLB Dominican baseball players themselves like to cook up their own Dominican food.  A recent cookbook showcases recipes from 20 MLB players, including several Dominican baseball players and their recipes for their favorite Dominican foods.  Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, and Alex Rodriguez are Dominican players that offer recipes.  Perhaps the most prototypical Dominican food dish, beans and rice OR arroz y habichuelas, is one of the Dominican meals found in the baseball cookbook.

All this talk of food makes the Dominican Baseball Guy miss arroz, habichuelas, and chicken.  Other common Dominican foods are yucca, cabbage, mofongo, and several varieties of plaintains.

Typical plate of Dominican food: rice, beans, chicken, and maybe a salad and noodles if you are lucky,
photo by Puroticorico on Flickr