The Commonwealth of Dominica is an island nation in the Caribbean. It is the smallest island in the Lesser Antilles and is still formed by geothermal volcanic activity. The country is also called the “Island of Nature of the Caribbean” because it preserves extremely rare animal and plant species such as the parrot Ciseru, which is the flag of the country. It is said that if Christopher Columbus returned to these lands, he would know only the island of Dominica. Only he has preserved the authentic beauty of the Caribbean. On it you will not see crowds of tourists and all inclusive hotels, but on the other hand there are high mountains, lonely wild beaches, dense tropical forests, mysterious lakes .. There are also nice and casual people who play dominoes on the streets and dance along the gates of their wild flower houses and do not care at all about the globalization of this world.
The soil here is very fertile and everything grows. The water is so much that you get tired of it 🙂 It rains every day, sometimes around the clock, always torrentially. The rains are very “heavy” as they say in English and you have the feeling that someone is constantly pouring buckets of water from the sky. If one day it fails to rain, you kiss the ground and thank you for your incredible luck! There is so much water and there are exactly 365 rivers on the island. All the water is drinkable, there are no pollutants, there are no factories and dumps… you can drink directly from every river and stream. On the streets in all towns and villages there are fountains on every corner. The water tastes wonderful, among other things! Only 23% of the land is cultivated. About 60% of the territory is forested, but contrary to expectations, the country not only does not export wood, but imports. 😮 Much of agricultural production comes from small farms. Coconuts are grown. grapes and citrus – lime, lemons, oranges. Thousands of tons of fish are caught annually, but they are mainly for domestic consumption.
Before the discovery of the island by Europeans, it was inhabited by native Indians, who were brutally killed by the colonizers and later replaced by slaves from Africa, a necessary labor force for developing plantations. The island changed its rulers several times – English and French, during the period XVII-XX centuries. Only in 1978 it gained its independence from Britain. The people of the country elect their own head of state. Dominica is a full member of the Caribbean Community and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. Most people confuse Dominica with the Dominican Republic and this is one of the reasons why this place is unknown to many in the world, which, one thinks, is a plus for preserving its authenticity. Due to the lack of an international airport and poor infrastructure, tourism is not very developed. It is because of this pristine beauty that the second and third parts of “Pirates of the Caribbean” were filmed on this island. It can be said that Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have done more to promote Dominica than all government programs.
Dominica’s cuisine is close to that of other countries in the region. Particularly exotic are the various sauces that are poured over some dishes, such as chicken with mango sauce, pineapple and other local fruits. From the fruits they prepare freshly squeezed juices in various combinations. Dominica’s cuisine has mastered the cooking traditions of French colonizers, African slaves and American Indians. You can find restaurants on the island only in Roseau and Portsmouth, in other settlements the maximum you can count on is ready meals in the supermarket and modest cafes. Bananas are widely used in dishes. Cassava used to be especially popular, but since you can buy bread in any grocery store, it is no longer visible. The meat is chicken, pork and beef. Sometimes the locals diversify with opossum meat. An interesting find in these places is the preparation of roasted meat in banana leaves, which can be given an incredible taste. For lovers of sweets there are primarily fruits, but here and there are locals who sell fried puff pastry sweets. In general, if you want to try a local sweet, you should buy it on the street from a housewife. The supermarkets sell imported sweets. After all this you will understand how difficult it was for me to find a recipe for you from this country. I made “Butter pecan cheesecake”, and here are the necessary products:
For cake base:
1 2/3 tea cup almond flour
2/3 tea cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
vanilla
6 tablespoons melted butter
For the filling:
230 grams of cream cheese
3/4 tea cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
pinch of salt
vanilla
3 eggs
2 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup crushed pecans (if you don’t have can nuts)
For the glaze:
1/4 tea cup of cream
1/4 tea cup of brown sugar
pinch of salt
vanilla
1/2 tea cup of powdered sugar
16 halves of pecans (or walnuts)
Steps of preparation:
Mix all the dry ingredients for the base in a blender. Finally add the melted butter and mix everything. In a 22 cm diameter tray, place baking paper on the bottom. Pour the mixture and level out.
Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
Beat the cream cheese with the sugar and molasses. Then add the eggs one by one, beating until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients for the filling and beat until smooth.
Once the base has cooled, pour the cream over it and return to the oven to bake at 160 degrees until done.
Refrigerate the cake for at least half an hour.
It’s time to prepare the glaze. Put in a small saucepan all the ingredients without the nuts and leave on the stove to thicken and melt the sugar. Finally, remove from the heat and add the nuts.
Arrange the nuts on the cake as we like and pour the glaze on the top. Well, that’s it. We’re ready. Return cake to the refrigerator to cool.
The cake is rich in taste. The taste of brown sugar and molasses is clearly felt, and salted caramel is already my favorite glaze. 🙂 I think I fell in love with Dominica. I want to go there. I am increasingly coming up with the idea of ​​a Caribbean cruise as Dominica and Andorra are a must for stops. This part of the world draws me to itself, and I can no longer wait for things to fall into place and for the world to become what we knew it to be more than a month ago. But whenever this happens, my desire is not lost. It can only get stronger. 🙂
Next destination – Dominican Republic.
