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Papua New GuineaFlavors · the Dominican Republic
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.
Traditional dish from the Dominican Republic
Also known as: Sancocho dominicano, sancocho de siete carnes, salcocho
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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Sancocho — the Dominican Republic
Sancocho is the Dominican gathering dish. In a large pot meats, tubers and seasonings are cooked until the broth thickens: green plantain, cassava, yam, yautía, auyama, sometimes corn, with a sofrito of garlic, onion, cilantro and oregano. It’s served very hot, with white rice and slices of avocado, and it’s normal to sweat at the table, even in the heat.
Its history is linked to the colonial era and to the formation of Dominican identity. One account attributes its origin to the broth of Canarian immigrants called salcocho, enriched by Spanish, African and Taíno influences. Historian Frank Moya Pons associates the dish with the abundance of cattle on the island during the colonial period.
Sancocho can be made with a single meat—chicken, beef or pork—or the famous sancocho de siete carnes, which mixes several meats. The seven meats are often a tradition without a fixed recipe: abundance in the pot is what matters.
The dish accompanies rainy days, family visits, birthdays, baptisms and the return of those who live abroad. The song “El sancocho prieto,” from 1951, is known across the country, and in everyday speech to say something is a sancocho means that everything is mixed together.
the Dominican Republic
Gathering dish and part of the national identity, with a history that goes back to the colonial era, according to the Presidency of the Republic.
Assorted meats (chicken, beef, pork, goat, ribs, sausage), green plantain, cassava, yam, yautía, auyama, sometimes corn, onion, garlic, cilantro, oregano, lime and salt.
Very hot, in a deep bowl, with white rice on the side and slices of avocado; some people put the rice directly into the broth.
Family gatherings, rainy days, birthdays, baptisms and year‑end festivities.
Your questions
The festive version of sancocho that mixes several meats in the same broth. The number seven is more tradition than rule.
With white rice and avocado.
One account links the dish to the salcocho of Canarian immigrants, enriched by Spanish, African and Taíno heritages during the formation of Dominican cuisine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
