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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Boca Chica
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.
Traditional dish from Boca Chica, Província de Santo Domingo
Also known as: Yanikeke, johnnycake
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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Yaniqueque — Boca Chica, the Dominican Republic
Yaniqueque is a simple dough of wheat flour, water, salt, a little sugar and garlic, rolled very thin and fried in oil or lard until golden and crispy. Its wide, flat shape led Dominicans to compare it to a vinyl record, a long play. It’s eaten hot, on its own or served with fried fish.
The name is the Dominican version of johnnycake, the name for flour cakes from the English-speaking Caribbean islands and North America. Tradition attributes the recipe to immigrants from those islands who arrived on the country’s eastern coast. Sociologist Carlos Andújar, a professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, recounts another version: a man from San Pedro de Macorís who made a flour pie, “Johnny’s pie,” which may have given the snack its name.
According to Andújar, the yaniqueques of Boca Chica, a beach east of Santo Domingo, are the most famous in the country. There the snack is sold at stalls near the sand and is part of the weekend outing for people who leave the capital for the sea. The custom spread to other regions, but Boca Chica remains the place most closely associated with it.
Besides the traditional version, there is filled yaniqueque: the same dough folded into a half-moon like an empanada, filled with egg, cheese, ham, chicken, beef or seafood. Many Dominicans also eat it for breakfast with a cup of hot chocolate.
Boca Chica , Província de Santo Domingo
The yaniqueques of Boca Chica are cited as the most famous in the country, sold near the beach.
Wheat flour, water, salt, a little sugar and garlic, fried in oil or lard; in the filled version: egg, cheese, ham, chicken, beef or seafood.
Hot and crispy, eaten with the hands, on its own, with fried fish or with hot chocolate; the filled version is folded into a half-moon.
Beach and weekend snack, also eaten for breakfast.
Your questions
From the English word johnnycake, the name for flour cakes from the English-speaking Caribbean islands. The exact origin is told in different versions.
Because those from Boca Chica are considered the most famous in the country, according to sociologist Carlos Andújar, and the snack is part of the beach days there.
Yes. The dough is folded into a half-moon like an empanada and filled with egg, cheese, ham, chicken, beef or seafood.
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.
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.
