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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Monte Cristi
Stewed, spicy goat kid meat scented with oregano, ají and garlic, typical of the Línea Noroeste and Monte Cristi. Local belief holds that the region’s goats graze on wild oregano, which seasons the meat even before cooking.
Traditional dish from Monte Cristi
Also known as: Chivo guisado liniero, chivo guisado picante, chivo de Montecristi
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Chivo liniero — Monte Cristi, the Dominican Republic
Liniero means from the Línea, the Línea Noroeste, a dry region in the northwest of the Dominican Republic along the border with Haiti. There, between the province of Monte Cristi and its neighbors, goat herding is part of the landscape and family life, and chivo guisado is the dish that identifies the region. It is one of the Dominican Republic’s most characteristic dishes associated with the city of Montecristi.
Tradition says the Línea’s goats graze on wild oregano, abundant in the area, and that is why the meat already comes seasoned. Oregano spread across the open lands after deforestation and burning, and the region’s isolation—where people long traveled by horseback—led residents to salt and dry kid meat to preserve and transport it.
In preparation, the meat is washed, seasoned with lime or sour orange, garlic, oregano, recaíto and ají, and left to absorb the flavor. It is then browned and slowly cooked with onion, bell pepper, tomato and hot pepper until tender in a thick, spicy sauce. Every cook has her own trick, but oregano is never missing.
Chivo liniero is served with rice, moro de frijoles, tostones, casabe and avocado. In seaside Montecristi, it also appears in versions such as baked chivo.
Monte Cristi
A dish of the Línea Noroeste, with Monte Cristi as one of its centers; tradition connects the meat’s flavor to the region’s wild oregano.
Kid meat, oregano, garlic, recaíto (onion, bell pepper, cilantro), hot ají, tomato, lime or sour orange, salt and oil.
Hot, with the sauce, alongside rice or moro de frijoles, tostones, casabe and avocado.
Everyday lunch and family or festive meals in the Línea Noroeste.
Your questions
It means from the Línea Noroeste, the northwest region of the Dominican Republic along the border with Haiti, where Monte Cristi is located.
Because of the local belief that the region’s goats eat wild oregano, which perfumes the meat.
With rice or moro de frijoles, tostones, casabe and avocado.
Flavors of the Dominican Republic
Sweet cream made from cooked red beans that are mashed and strained, mixed with coconut milk and evaporated milk, sugar, sweet potato, raisins and spices, served with little cookies on top. It is the Lent and Holy Week dessert throughout the country.
Everyday lunch: white rice, stewed beans and stewed meat, with salad and often tostones. The name evokes the colors of the national flag, and rice with beans is a foundation of the country’s culinary identity.
Drink made from peels, roots, herbs and spices macerated in a bottle with rum, red wine and honey. It went from a country home remedy to a signature Dominican drink, and the name comes from damajuana, the large glass carboy.
Mashed boiled green plantain mixed with butter or oil, topped with red onion in vinegar. It is the Dominican breakfast par excellence, often served with the tres golpes: fried cheese, salami and fried egg.
Thick broth of assorted meats and tubers such as plantain, cassava, yam and yautía, served with white rice and avocado. In the festive version it includes seven meats. It is part of the national identity and has a history linked to colonial times.
Thin, crispy fried wheat-flour dough, savory, about the size of a plate. It’s the beach snack associated with Boca Chica, and the name comes from the English johnnycake, brought by immigrants from the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean.
Fresh fish seasoned with lime and cooked in a coconut milk sauce with annatto, cilantro, onion and garlic. It is Samaná’s signature dish, where coconut defines the local cuisine.
Homemade liqueur made from the guavaberry fruit, cooked with spices and mixed with rum, drunk at Christmas. It was brought to San Pedro de Macorís by the cocolos, Afro-Caribbean immigrants who came to work in the sugar mills.
