Elizabeth Guzman
One traditional plate that my family enjoys today is rice and beans. It’s a plate that has been passed down from generation to generation in my family for many years. A lot people know this plate as the “The Dominican Flag” this is because is one of the traditional plates in the Dominican menu. Although rice and beans is really simple and easy to prepare we make it in different ways it can be separate or mixed to make a different meal. When its being cooked mixed it is known as “moro” there are at least three types of “moro” I can mentioned now which are: red bean moro , black bean moro and pigeon beans moro. The same ingredients are being used as if you were doing the beans separated from the rice. Though my grandmother cooked it very different as to the way my mom cooks it today for us. The way that is made is sore of the same, but the ingredients came from different places. I believe that’s the way my grandmother cooked years ago is more healthy, fresh and organic.
The ingredients that my grandmothers used are practically the same ingredients my mother uses today with one huge difference hers were fresh and hand picked. My grandmother had fields that she would grow her ingredients in, such as peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, spicy bitter orange, oregano and cilantro that would give the beans that special and unique flavor. The beans it self also came from the soil. These ingredients that my grandmothers used were healthily and fresh and all natural. She planted them in here field. However, the ingredients that my mother uses today come from the supermarket and are also shipped in from other countries. These ingredients have been probably procesed and have been packed for weeks. Another difference is the salt. My grandmother didn’t use grinded salt like the salt my mom uses today to cook.
Though the ingredients may have been used different the seasoning is mostly the same. The onions, peppers, garlic is something that stays the same. In the other hand the beans and the sauce we use today are the beans and sauce that come in cans, and so the vinegar and salt. Being that the beans are in cans, they aren’t as hard so they be quicker and faster to cook. Something that’s additional that my moms uses is a seasoning that my grandmother never used because it wasn’t invented back then. Is a seasoning that is packed up called “Sa-son Accent”, is a powder sauce that she used to give the beans more flavor. My grandmother used a different form of tomato sauce. She planted her own tomato and she incorporated in the beans. Also the beans were hand picked. So she had to boil them in the mornings for about an hours and a half so they be soft by the time she would have the dinner ready. One thing that my grandmother used and my mother uses today to cook the beans is the oil. They both cook with corn oil, though sometimes my mother uses olive oil to cook. They both have the same calories of fat, cholesterol, sodium and carbohydrate.
Finally even though the meal was cooked with the same ingredients just that back then the ingredients were fresh and better, the meal remains the same as today, and is being still traditional in my family. Another thing that is different is the time that dinner is being served and is being eaten. Here the meal is put on the table around 5 or 6pm. In the Dominican Republic the meal is severed at 12pm noon and this was and still is a very important part of the culture because everyone sits down around the table to eat together. I believe that the healthiest way was how my grandmother cooked due to the fact that everything was organic and it was planted in her field and all she had to do was go hand pick it herself, unlike my mom today who goes to the supermarket and gets her ingredients to cook dinner. It was a healthier meal back then than it is today even if it is the same and it is prepared the same way, with the difference that the ingredients were hand picked and were all natural and afresh.
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