The Lunch a Whole Country Eats

It is just after noon and the street has gone quiet. Shutters are half down. The office you wanted is closed, and the small restaurant beside it is suddenly full.

Malo je poslije podneva i ulica je utihnula. Rolete su napola spuštene. Ured koji si tražio je zatvoren, a mali restoran pored njega odjednom je pun.

In the Dominican Republic lunch is the real meal of the day, not dinner. The plate that arrives is white rice, stewed red beans poured over it, and a piece of meat, usually chicken, with a little salad on the side and fried green plantain if you are lucky. It is called la bandera, which means the flag, because the colours on the plate are the colours of the country. People eat it most days of the week and do not get tired of it.

U Dominikanskoj Republici ručak je pravi obrok dana, ne večera. Tanjur koji stigne sadrži bijelu rižu, crveni grah u umaku prelivenom preko nje, i komad mesa, obično piletine, sa salatom sa strane i prženim zelenim bananama ako imaš sreće. Zove se la bandera, što znači zastava, jer su boje na tanjuru boje zemlje. Ljudi to jedu većinu dana u tjednu i ne dosadi im.

The useful thing to know is the rhythm, not the recipe. If you turn up hungry at three in the afternoon you will find the good places empty and the food gone. Eat when everybody else eats. Then ask for a small strong coffee afterwards, standing up, and go back out into the heat.

Korisno je znati ritam, ne recept. Ako se pojaviš gladan u tri poslijepodne, naći ćeš dobra mjesta prazna, a hranu pojedenu. Jedi kad i svi ostali. Zatim zatraži malu jaku kavu poslije, stojeći, i vrati se van u vrućinu.