Other Christmas ‘treats’!

Fruits: Manzanas (Apples), uvas (grapes) and peras (pears) which in the Dominican Republic are fruits consumed just at Christmas time, as a kind of ‘delicacy’! We also love to eat frutas secas (nuts) at this time of the year, especially hazelnut (we call them ‘coquitos’ which literally means “small coconuts” ), walnuts (nueces), and almonds (almendras)!

Drinks: Typical Dominican Republic Christmas drinks include red wine, anis (‘Anis del Mono’ – ‘Monkey Aniseed’ – is the most popular!) and ponche de huevo (eggnog) and, of course, ‘rhum’ or ‘ron’ (rum). All these drinks have always been the first choices for most Dominican’s.

But of course, we cannot forget our delicious (at least for me!) non-alcoholic drink for Christmas time: ‘jengibre’ (ginger), which is an infusion made of ginger roots which sometimes also includes a delicious fruit we call ‘Jagua’ (this fruit – also called a ‘genipap’ or ‘marmalade box’ – is about the size of an orange, succulent and has a strong flavour similar to ginger, but is much sweeter).