• Home
  • Blog
  • About Dominica foods and recipes
  • Contact
  • Shop
    • Products
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Dominica Gourmet

Dominica Gourmet

A blog about foods from Dominica

Dominican Christmas dinner

December 28, 2020

I have very fond memories of Christmas in Dominica. What immediately comes to mind is the authenticity of those experiences.

It starts way before waking up to folks caroling on our balcony and the Christmas morning chaudeau and cake; it usually starts weeks ahead with the Christmas projects on the way. My dad, an architect and builder, would have his client’s construction projects to work on, but he’d always taken on a home project. They would include building a new cabinet, installing something new in the bathroom, putting new tiles, building new chairs. For some weird reason, they all seem to wrap up on Christmas morning, and my mom detested that.

We’d also get Christmas cards from my aunt and cousins in England, US and Canada. Some of them contained British pounds, US and Canadian dollars, and we’d need to go to Roseau to change the funds into EC, and do some Christmas shopping. My mother would purchase new fabric for curtains from Astaphan’s and LA Dupigny. She’d also make sure to buy fabric to take to Paix Bouche to our beloved seamstress, Maymie, who’d been hired to sew our lovely Christmas outfits.

A few days before Christmas, we knew the villagers’ names who were killing cows, pigs, goats, and even sheep. We also knew that we had to make room in the freezer, among the large containers of ice, to store all the meat.

As soon as the village animals were killed, the various parts were assigned for various uses. The blood was drained from the cows and used to make black pudding. The skin was removed and sold as fwachin. Every part of the cow was used, including the stomach, intestines, organs, feet, tongue, head, and skin — some parts for stewing, souse, black pudding, and soups. For the pig, the pork was salted and smoked and goat meat was used to make goat water, for stewing, and curry.

All this marked the start of a very festive holiday season.

In addition to buying meats, we often shared homemade or homegrown gifts from neighbors, family members, and friends. Foods like sorrel, peas, cakes, yams, dasheen, plantains, babawouley, tannia, and other ground provisions would exchange hands. Neighbors, who specialized in certain crops would give to others and they’d also be on the receiving end as well.

We’d travel to Roseau for Christmas Eve shopping right after we’d put in our order for mastiff bread. Shopping in Roseau was chaotic yet fun. Lines were also long at the grocery stores, but we needed to make sure that we had enough groceries to last till after New Years’. On our visit to Roseau, my mom always made a pit stop at France Bakery for a slice of fruit cake with icing. Their cakes were the best in Dominica and they were a household name.

Christmas dinner

The meals were simple yet exquisite. My mother Magdalene Augustine Massicot was an incredible cook. She was also one of the most creative and resourceful women I know. She often started cooking Christmas lunch-dinner right after Midnight mass or before we were awake. Our red beans would be soaking overnight, meats seasoned and ready to hit the stove. We always had extra propane tanks since there would be lots of cooking, which often included a delicious brunch.

Dinner often included beef, ham, rice, baked chicken, provision, baked macaroni pie, yam pie or banana pie, salad, red beans, etc. This would be accompanied by the freshest and tastiest sorrel and ginger beer. We often cooked extra since folks would pass by, and my mom always made sure that she had something to offer guests. We would also have lots of alcoholic and softer beverages, and they were often placed on the coffee table. My mom used to make plantain and passion fruit wine. She was also a master at making rum punch, and it was always a staple at Christmastime. So when guests stopped by they had easy access to help themselves and share in the festive moments.

Later on in the evening, my sisters and I would set up for night festivities. We had a bar and sold bakes and fried or barbeque chicken. Folks came in from neighboring villages to dance and hang out. This was a great opportunity to bond with our friends and villagers.

Those nostalgic memories are priceless. Although we spent Christmas in Dominica last year, most of those traditions are no longer .

This Christmas, I created a Dominican menu and thought about my mom, who passed away right before Christmas 7 years ago. I miss her and wished she was here to celebrate with my family. We spent the day, just us. It was the first year that we celebrated alone. It was laid back, fun, and we bonded over our love of food, jokes, and well, the kids played video games with their cousins in Canada.

Here’s what we ate!

in Dinner

Reader Interactions

you may also like
Grilled octopus
Grilled Octopus Recipe
Five simple and delicious salads
Five simple and delicious salads
Dominican callaloo soup recipe
Dominican callaloo soup recipe
How to make cassava bread

Comments

  1. Chef Edwin Francis Gregoire Ba. BSc. Mhs. Inst. C says

    December 28, 2020 at 6:13 pm

    You are an amazing cook, host, most importantly, the island spirit, the West Indian and Caribbean culture.
    Not many can aspire to keeping let alone remember our roots and where we came from.
    You are an amazing inspiration, I pray that your children takes a lot after you and continue your legacy and the grace you inspire in your love for cooking and entertaining with creativity and joy.
    Thank you for sharing and reminding us that there is a true meaning of Christmas, “Family”.

    Reply
    • admin says

      December 28, 2020 at 6:41 pm

      Hi Chef Edwin, thank you for your very kind words. I’m touched! I truly appreciate our culture and happy to share it with the world. I’m hoping that my children learn as much as I’m teaching them, so that they carry on our tradition. Thanks again!

      Reply
  2. Cisne Pascal says

    December 29, 2020 at 2:12 am

    very well done…remembering and being so proud of Dominica and its food is very refreshing…I am inspired to cook more like this thanks you.

    Reply
    • admin says

      January 26, 2021 at 5:58 am

      Hi Cisne, thank you so much for your kind words. I truly appreciate the support.

      Reply
  3. Jeanine Brown says

    March 1, 2021 at 2:27 am

    Hi Mayma
    My name is Jeanine Brown, i am from 🇩🇲 I live in Michigan. If it’s okay i would love to know you. I wad reading your recipes it brought back so many memories. Thank you! Stay safe

    Reply
    • admin says

      March 1, 2021 at 3:26 am

      Hi Jeanine,
      Thank you for reaching out. You’re so sweet. I’d love to know you as well. I’m so pleased that the recipes bring back many memories. This was one of the reasons why I created this website—to help folks connect with their past. Hopefully, the blog will also provide an opportunity to connect :-).

      Take care and stay safe as well.

      Mayma

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Meet Mayma

Sakafete! Growing up in Dominica, food was central to socializing and in abundance. Cooking with my family was one of the highlights of my youth. We grew our produce and raised livestock, which often made it to our kitchen table. With my mother and grandmother's guidance, I discovered my passion for cooking at age 9. We used lots of verbal recipes then. Today, I share those culinary experiences with my children, using the fundamentals of Dominican cooking and making it our own. I'm not a trained cook/chef, however, as I embark on my food journey, I invite you to experience foods from the Caribbean island of Dominica. Let's cook!
read more

Join our Mailing List

Recipes, tips, and more right in your inbox.

Top hits!

  • Sauteed banana flowers
  • Pineapple shrimp rice in a pineapple bowl

Featured

Dominica Gourmet Book

Dominica Gourmet cookbook is available for preorder

Categories

  • Appetizers
  • Breakfast
  • Desserts
  • Dinner
  • Drinks
  • Salads
  • Snacks
  • Soups
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegetarian

Our Gram

2020 © A blog about foods from Dominica