I did tell you this past weekend I had a double discovery day. The quaint used bookstore was one, and the other was a eatery nook in the wall. It was like serendipity.
I was walking from the parking lot into my office building when I spotted a piece of paper on the ground, one of my habits is to pick up litter that is between me and a garbage can. So I picked up this paper, and on my way to the garbage can I began to inspect it. Upon closer scrutiny I realized I was looking at a menu. To me, it’s no ordinary menu…and I’ll tell you why.
Florida is one of those states that I would say is considered a mecca of culture mix, even though I am a native New Yorker, my late teenage years development and onward has been from this wonderful warm state. Now, another tidbit, my parents are from the Caribbean island of ‘La Hispañola” also known as the Dominican Republic and of course our home cooked meals were prepared with the Caribbean Latin flare. I married at a very young age and outside of my culture, this affected my cuisine and I’ve only preserved a few Dominican dishes in my repertoire.
Miami Florida has a very strong latino community which is comprised mostly of Cubans…and despite the Caribbean latin similarities, there are some twists to the dishes. (Another side note, even though there is South America – a whole continent of predominantly spanish speaking peoples, there is a huge distinction of the vibe of the people from the spanish Caribbean islands: Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic). The foods of the Caribbean are very light and tropical… as it moves into Jamaica and the Virgin Islands it gets a whole different flavor.
Now, I’ve recently migrated to Orlando Florida and have discovered a very strong Puerto Rican community with an underlying Mexican wave (as well as a vibrant Oriental community of various mixes). Despite all these spanish restaurants, none made me feel like ‘home’, …and I do so miss my mom now that they have moved back to their ‘peace’ of mound out in the Atlantic Ocean… and I miss her cooking.
So there I stood in the parking lot; what someone discarded as trash and left on the ground, I saw as a gift. After the meeting I knew were I was going for lunch. It was delicious! mmmm
…the pigeon peas and rice was ‘ Sabroso!’
Tu Casa (means: Your House). The place is – nothing fancy…yet homey… it had a very ‘tipico’ feeling with island colors on the wall, plasma t.v. show casing the latest hot Spanish music videos and pretty hot latinas wearing tight jeans bringing food to the table. For a few minutes I felt like I was having lunch under a coconut palm tree wearing a white skirt and halter top, bare feet digging in the cool grass and feeling a cool breeze rolling down from the mountain side. —- a but to dream! It’s wonderful!
Tell me about your favorite restaurant and special dish.
Daisy Says: Embrace all of the gifts your parents gave you and cherish the traditions.
This is a great subject with good data so well done on your success and interesting topic it should be discussed. Did you totally agree with the top half of this? I wonder about traditions in the dominican republic. The rest was fine and informative. Ill check back soon for any added comments, thanks.