A Taste of Dominica

Notable sites around Roseau include The New Market on the Riverbank displaying fresh tropical fruit, vegetables, and herbs. Because Dominica is blessed with rich volcanic soil and adequate rainfall, fresh tropical produce need not be imported. Local fruits like mangoes, soursop, cherries, and guavas make delicious juice or mixers, as do a wide variety of citrus crops.

After meeting your local representative at the pier area, take a scenic and panoramic drive for approximately 30 minutes to your host's home in the mountains. Be warmly welcomed into her home with a refreshing beverage of juice made from the local fruit that is in season.

Your host, Daria, is warm, fun, and entertaining and lives with her husband Michael in their mountain home just outside Roseau. Daria says she learned to be an efficient cook from her mother and learned to have fun in the kitchen from her eldest sister. She has fond memories of her dad buying her sister an expensive cookbook and together they experimented with different recipes every day. Daria was formally trained in nutrition and loves to continue to experiment in her kitchen today.

Acclimate to your beautiful surroundings as you enjoy the view of the mountains and the sea as you walk around her garden. This is a wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture of Dominica as you have a glimpse into a local's existence.

Step next into Daria's kitchen where you will be introduced to local fruit, vegetables, and concoctions made by the chef. Roll up your sleeves and learn to cook 3-4, authentic and seasonal Creole dishes that the host has put her own creative twist on during your exclusive, small group hands-on cooking class.

Creole cuisine is a fusion of indigenous, African, and European food cultures. As you learn to prepare your meal you will be introduced to the stories of some of the island's iconic dishes. You may learn to cook dishes such as spicy batter fried plantain, Creole-style stewed fresh fish (as the sea surrounds Dominica) in a blend of peppers, tomatoes and garlic, rice and beans in coconut milk and christophine, a Caribbean squash cooked in island spices.

After you have prepared your dishes, it's now time for your reward, as you sit down at the dining table to enjoy the meal you helped alongside your hosts to prepare. Your meal concludes with a dessert such as passionfruit mousse or stewed seasonal fruit and ice cream. Your experience is then topped off with a couple of glasses of Daria's not to be missed signature island rum punch.

, Daria enjoys hosting because she loves meeting different people from around the world and is always eager to learn about other people's culture and to share with travelers her own culture and experiences. This truly will be a special day you will remember for a lifetime as you see, smell and taste an authentic side of Dominica!