Dominica now has an official national dish.
Chief cultural officer, Raymond Lawrence, announced that callaloo will now be Dominica’s national dish.
He made the announcement at the opening of the island’s independence celebration ceremony now taking place at the Bay Front in Roseau.
The choice was made through a series of surveys carried out among Dominicans on radio, in the hotels, through a LIME texting feature, and print media including Dominica News Online.
It presented the choices of callaloo, sancoche, broth, fig and saltfish and titiwi.
The choice was then forwarded to cabinet for approval.
The new dish replaces the Mountain Chicken which was Dominica’s unofficial national dish for many years.
My word…who voted…like really. I’m all for the no frog cause it needed to be changed. But who in their right mind go on a fun holiday want this to eat/drink…I mean it reminds me of what I would drink during a hurricane or storm…more research needed to be done.
Bon apetit…
Caribbean people stop all the fuss and respect the dish, it’s their choice, stop judging and unite
bad digusting yuck
i am glad it is change because frog is disgusting
I doh care wat nobody say but I glad its callaloo for our national dish
Hello and good afternoon my people. Well Trinidad and Tobago already have that as their national dish and they prepare a serious Calaloo. I think we should find another dish which is really Dominican otherwise we will be in competition with TNT. Anyway I love Calaloo and I don’t care who’s dish is it.
What is titiwi?? Nothing by that.name in trinidad
TITWI is a tiny Fresh Water Fish the size of a spike on a Dinner Fork, usually steamed and served on Rice, and also used to make Fish Cakes which we call ACRA TITIWI..
how can you Dominican copy other people’s dish. as far as am aware Callaloo has been very popular in Barbados and Jamaica for decades- how can Dominica make it a National dish- There is no callalloo growing in Dominica except dasheen leaves. so where on earth are you going to get the callalloo from?
well my dear if you don`t know dasheen leaves is callaloo.
all other leaves can be a substitute like spinach ect.but the real callaloo is dasheen leaves and Dominica has lots of that.
but I really think they should have picked something else,too many country has that as their dish.
The Dominican Callaloo dish is not the same as the Trini,which is the Green Vegetable served as a side dish along with Rice, and in Jamaica it’s the Green Veg served with Codfish or as a side Veg.. Dominican Callallo is the Dasheen Leaf made as a SOUP with mainly CRAB, and called CALLALOO SOUP..
Thanks for the clarification. One thing in one country is sometimes known by a different name in another, like in this case. I just learned what is green banana is known as green fig in another country.
That’s no clarification since dasheen leaf is
Callaloo In Trinidad, Grenada, St.Vincent and other southern Caribbean islands and it’s used to prep crab and callaloo as well as callaloo soup.
NOTHING IS BEING COPIED…Every Island prepares what they call Callaloo differently..The Dominican Callaloo dish is not the same as the Trini,which is the Green Vegetable served as a side dish along with Rice, and in Jamaica it’s the Green Veg served with Codfish or as a side Veg.. Dominican Callallo is the Dasheen Leaf made as a SOUP with mainly CRAB, and called CALLALOO SOUP..
Excuse me I remember the Barbados Netball team coming to DA in the 80s and when served with callaloo they turned their noses up. They stayed at the Cheery lodge Hotel. So what you talking about Callaloo in Barbados.
We do know that Callaloo is also the national dish of Trinidad and Tobago!
i glad for you police will ares you in your skin
Caribbean people eat the same food, prepared in many different variations. Instead of comparing ourselves (not surprised we are doing this even in this instance), represent the uniqueness of the DA callaloo. Dominicans are too quick to put OURSELVES on blast! The level of pettiness and ridicule that we put ourselves thru is unnecessary. Go market DA callaloo and stop the malarkey!
i love crab
Needed to be titiwi Very unique and represents Dominica.
papa national dish calaloo. meself when tings tough and i have spinach and coconut i making a fas callaloo..so here goes the callalooo.. so u must tell us how to prepare it because national dish should be unique so when visitors come they have to pay good money for they national dish.. bust because it has this special taste they don’t care how much they spent just to know they have tasted the national dish..so explain mr lawrence what is really going to happen is there a special spot the dish will be found because of the special taste? ell me.
I am not against the nation dish, but callaloo is prepared in so many different ways..in so many contries, are we suppose to expect the same every day callaloo grand mamma cooked when she/they had no meat? or are they planing on coming up with a different/unique/secrete ingredient? if it is the regular callaloo and gloo coco I see no use..maybe an ingredient or a unique touch which can be found only on the island..
Guess now it is time to call on Dominicans world wide for their impute and ideas, submit their own recipe, who knows what can happen? great mind can come together….even if we sometimes see more reason to condemn then to support..WE SHOULD LEARN TO LOOK FURTHER THAN OUR EYES CAN SEE….
So boil callaloo is our national dish magaysah!
good for you brother lawrence,always love.keep on dancing.
Throw a couple of Lazar legs in and you good to go.
Now i don’t feel unpatriotic in other ppls land cuz i eat kalaloo once evry month even i doh have the good old smoke meat my mom makes so well,
merci Dominque et bon appetit à tous!
Un plat qui mérite bien recognition pour sa couleur de nos forêts et sa velouté de nos rivières , awwww comment mon île me manque. Nul part est comme chez soi……
ewwww!
horrible choice……a national dish should stand out. callalloo is a Caribbean dish, everybody eats callalloo. bad choice!!!!!!!!!!!!
How was this decision arrived at ? I’m not impressed at all. What makes callalo unique to DA?
dno, can we get a recipe please
After knowing that Trinidad’s national dish is callaloo we still went ahead wit this i am so disappointed.i think we should rethink this and have Ti Ti Wi instead for reasons being the it can be found in the river which is one of our main attributes and another being that if Ti Ti Wi would be our national dish we would now make a greater effort to protect our rivers from which the Ti Ti Wi comes from. we would now be original and do some thing good in the process.
Thats more like to-lou-lou! Bake chicken and pasta i say
I wonder what the Trinidad ians would say when they hear dominica have the same national dish as them -_- allu just looking for trouble
That and the fact trinidad is a more popular island than Dominica so they are already known for their callalo while Dominica is not very much known at all plus they have nicki minaj to advertise their callalo who we have sot they sot .
Negative!!! God bless DOMINICA !!
Lol u sort!!
Some people must reach in hospital with itching throats after they eat that!!!
Hearty laugh…. you ‘re too much,but you speak the truth.
as if he is a complete fraud
(what kind of)Callalou? The decision is a good one, but somewhat vague. Crab callalou? Smoke meat callalou? Or both? I hope before Mr. Lawrence will clarify/expand on the specifics.
Callaloo is a bush. It does not have to have any meat, or whatever meat you put in is up to you. It is a vegetable. (Tonnerre!)
What happen to fig and fish with pepper?
that’s our national dish,voleur
How is it made?
someone please supply the recipe…I may want to try it out.
put calallo in the pot
add pepper to make it hot
put coconot
and that is callaloo u got
natioanl dish sot
I drink and eat callaloo in all forms in Trinidad and other Caribbean countries.
It’s not even a unique dish. Jamaicans eat callalou like it’s bread. Seriously?
if you are not satisfied with the national dish, well name your unique dish, please for God’s sake what do you think we have, other countries in the Caribbean does not have?
Callaloo?! Why?! You might as well of kept to the original why was it changed the other islands have kept their dishes. I’m disappointed.
what we have to do now is have a national recipe for our national dish,,,heres mine.
serves four
three bundles of young dasheen leafs
milk from two dry coconuts
three cloves of garlic
one sprig of thyme
one small onion
two stalks of local celery
four seasoning pepper
1/8 cup of oil
1/4 cup margarine or butter
method
1.prepare dasheen leafs buy peeling the thin membrane on the outside of the stalk,remove any brown spots on stalk or leaf,wash well under running water and then roughly chop and put to one side
2.peel and chop onion and garlic
3.wash and chop remaning seasonings
4.remove flesh from coconut and grate,put 1/4 cup of grated coconut to one side,place remainder in a suitable container and pour 2 litres of boiling water onto coconut and leave covered for at least 15 minutes
5.place suitable pot on stove and add oil and margarine
6.add onion,garlic and seasonings,saute until tender then add chopped dasheen leafs,continue to cook until dasheen is limp,stir often
7.using a fine strainer or cloth squeeze the cooled coconut milk into a container making sure you get as much liquid out as possible.
8. put 1/4 cup of coconut milk to one side and add the remainder of milk to the pot
9,simmer gently for at least 1/2 hour to ensure that the soup does not scratch,stir often and add a little water if required due to evaperation.
10.remove from fire and allow to cool.
11.place the reserved grated coconut under a grill or in a small pan and brown.
12.blend cooled soup until smooth
13.return soup to stove and reheat
14.add salt and pepper to taste
15.place hot soup in bowl and sprinkle with coconut milk and browned grated coconut
16.serve
this menu is for a classic callaloo,you can use spinach if you can not get dasheen leafs and you can add scotch bonnet,crab,smoked meat,crayfish,anything that you as the cook like.the only thing i would ask for it to be ours is not to use chicken cube,bohio,sazon ect,i know some pepole can not cook without these things,but trust me, all they do is take away from the natural flavor.
let me know if ive forgotten anything and
Bon Appetite
Any dish is good for me they are all uniquely delicious. Callaloo it is, callaloo it will be! I love it
At least we can eat it all year round.
Yes…but I still don’t know what it is. Can someone help me understand what exactly this dish is?
Poor decision!
It is the people’s decision. hope you you contributed.
Oh wow!
Although Trinidad and Tobago has this special dish as a special food, l think that this could be a special one for D/ca. If D/ca think they can make it better than Tribago, then be the West Indies’ guest. Somebody needs a fight.
Lol dominica callalo is no where near better than trinidad from my experience, so they should change it to something they can prepare better cause for the ten years I’ve been in dominica I’ve yet to taste a nice callalo,
Every nationality cooks calaloo diferently. Jamaicans cook it without meat as a side dish and they do not cook it with coconut milk. Trinidadians cook it with okra as they blend the two together and wirh coconut milk which sometimes taste sweet as the coconut is usually not boiled enoughand it is very slimmery with the okra. They cook it with crab or salt pork. Dominicans cook it with coconut milk as a side dish or with crabs or salt meat or anything desired. So for a trini to say that she has never tasted one in da meaans that she cannot cook it because unlike trinidad dominica has all the ingredients to make the most delicious calaloo ever. I get all the ingredients to cook it in canada so trini who like to brag and say things to put dominic a down what the hell r u doing there. When trini has the best of everything for u.
Are u kidding me. You trinis should not be talking about cooking. I worked with a bunch of them and even had one as a sister in law and the crap that they cooked made us co workers and family vommit. One brought a dish at my childs confirmatiin and i did not even bother to serve it.
Interesting to note. Different colors of a few small pieces of sweet pepper or carrots or other small pieces of vegetables for decoration with meat (fish if preferred but optional),smoked could be placed in it and also for taste. Just my idea. On occasion, this is how I would prepare it.
A bowl of callaloo over boiled rice (could be prepared in different ways) would be delicious. Served as a soup would be palatable. I can’t wait to make some.
Some of you appear not to have any common sense, giving thumbs down for making a positive statement and contribution. What is wrong with you? Is this all you can contribute to on this Website? Then, it is nothing.
You have a mental problem. When last you saw a psychiatrist? It appears to me you need to see one now and to receive counseling. You are strange people. Are you truly Dominicans? But not kind and loving ones as you depict.
Strange characters, always giving others thumbs down for making positive and true statements. This is a big problem on your part. It gives me bad vibes about you. God knows who you are. Strive for goodness to all and to practice same. It will make you happy and peaceful.
callaloo with what is it crab or callaloo and rice callaloo with smoke meat what
Does it make a difference? It is an opportunity for people to be creative. Stop being petty…Think of yourself as the chef, what would you do? Come on let’s get on with the program!!!! The decision is made. You can either get on the bus ……(you know what!!!!!)
Excellent question. It must be served with a side dish or vice versa.
Not good.
Great choice Dominicans. So callaloo it is.
Is callalou even native to Dominica? I am wondering because a national dish should be a distinguishing national symbol, and callalou seems to be a Caribbean Dish.
cornmeal native to barbados? coucou n flyfish is their national dish. saltfish native to jamaica? ackee tree growin in every caribbean country, but is their nation dish. support d ting, doh try n bring it down
I knew of Callaloo since childhood. We should find out which country first knew of it and had it also as their national dish. It obviously originated from a French country. It is worth the research but will we find the answer?
The origin is jute and spinach soups of West Africa. Each West African country has a version. All Callaloos from French Creole islands are similar and we may consider Martinique as the source since slavery in Martinique began earlier than some of the other French Creole islands. The slave holders, enslaved Africans and free people of Color came to Trinidad from Martinique and other French ruled islands in 1783 (Cedula of Population). Trinidad was underpopulated with only about 1000 persons on the island so the Catholics asked the Spanish Governor to migrate and were granted permission since Catholicism is the main religion of Spain. France however is no longer a Catholic country, they are now very secular. Similar recipes are in Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Vincent and Dominica. Trinidad, was the first island to start adding coconut milk to Callaloo. However, it is not our national dish. All the best from a Trinidadian who has Dominican, Vincentian and St Lucian family ties.
Both should be the number one choice.
disappointing,why dont we want to stand out from other islands?
What was the rush?
Ti nom, you know what, they should take all of you negative people and put you all one of the little island out in the sea somewhere and you all will definitely “stand out from other islands”. No one can please you all. Your brains are only activated by negative comments…give me a break. Your stupidity causes you to “stand out” enough. We do not need a national dish to do that.
Why did they choose callaloo, that is a dish that is already eaten in many other islands. Why didnt they choose a dish that’s unique to Dominica?
great choice
no way! best they had choose peleau!
I would have preferred (braff), but since the majority voted something else, then this is what it is. However, i would like to propose the spelling in kweyol so we can claim it. So my proposal is kalaloo.
I agree with you, “Kalaloo” would be an appropriate name since Dominica’s heritage is also French, to make it unique. The pronunciation commencing with ‘K’ is just fine.
How many Stella’s are there in Dominica? I know one by this name. Do not know if you are the one. She resides at Goodwill. She is well known. Everyone should know her. She is a dear lady.
Is it me or does no one else realise that callalou is a regional dish? All across the Caribbean people cook callalou. What makes it unique to Dominica?
And the fact that it is already trinidad and tobago national dish , I hope when they hear dominica has the same national dish as them they wouldn’t make a big deal about it .
Calaloo in Jamaica is spinach. Dasheen bush is another story.
Thanks D.N.O. for being part of the survey. And being on top all news events. No sooner MR: Raymond Lawrence made the announcement I logged on and sure enough you reported it. U.S A.
I need a bowl now, with coconut cream and crab, with a shoot of nanee`to wash it Down. Bon a petite.
Bon appetit! Lawd!
It was about time
breath of fresh air_( dan dee old dutty frog meat seriously whenever someone would talk bout our national dish i felt like vomitting )
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