Dominican Culture An Overview essays

Dominican Culture An Overview essays The Dominican Republic is unique from all other Latin American nations in part because it's heritage relates to Haitian cultural traditions rather than solely Spanish ones, much like the rest of Latin America (Brown Standish, 1999). In fact, the Dominican Republic received its independence from Haiti not Spain (Brown Spanish colonial influences are not evident in the country; in fact they are widespread, particularly within the realm of architectural structures The official religion of the Dominican Republic is Roman Catholicism (Brown country are Roman Catholic. There are other religions prevalent in the country however including Protestantism and the traditional religious system of native Taino Indians, who practice cohoba religious ceremonies and also Gaga, which is the Dominican version of voodooism (Brown Standish, 1999). For this reason some cultural aspects of the religion are seen by outsiders as evil' or foreign, because they are largely Customs in the Dominican Republic are though to originate in part from the Cibao area, settled back in colonial times (Brown This area brings with it many native traditions including traditional foods consumed within the Dominican Republic, discussed below. Common foods include coffee, hot cocoa, ham and cheese, fruit, papaya and friend eggs (Brown of day. Common desserts served include sweetened fruit compotes generally made with fruits such as guava and pineapple (Brown popular dish served on special occasions is called sancocho, and is a stew that is made of root vegetables and meats including pork, sausage, goat, chicken and bacon, flavored with a spice called malegueta (Brown ...