As the United States races to the polls in an increasingly sleazy and bizarre electoral race, New Zealand is jogging more sedately towards its own election. While sifting the election related news I came across this interesting little snippet on Chinese voters.
Some photos of Santo Domingo. . .
The presidential palace looks rather like the White House.
Below are some photos from Sosua and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. . .
Sign leading to Sosua beach. Many of the road signs in the Dominican Republic are sponsored by Brugal rum.
I am now in Antigua, Guatemala, sipping on Mayan hot chocolate – which sounds like a tourist gimmick but may not be. I left the Dominican Republic about three weeks ago, spending a couple of weeks in Haiti before getting on a COPA air flight to Guatemala via Panama. The original plan had been to travel from Port-au-Prince to Guatemala City via Havana, but this proved a little difficult to arrange. Everything in Haiti is difficult. Internet and power in Haiti were absolutely horrible so I was pretty much unable to blog while I was there. Of course laziness also played a part.
The world of Dominican Beer is far from exciting. If the New World had only been discovered by Belgians things could have been so different. Still, meager as the offerings are, it seems a shame to leave the Dominican Republic without giving them a brief nod. Latin culture is formal like that, and so I should at least say something.
I somehow managed to lose half my photos of Dominican Republic beer bottles. I’m not sure how that happened. Anyway, sadly there is no picture of the rather cool Bohemia bottle.
China constantly bullies Taiwan, threatening to invade, test firing missiles into the sea near Taiwanese harbors during elections on the democratic island to remind its voters of the consequences of voting the ‘wrong’ way, excluding Taiwan from international bodies like the World Health Organization, refusing to allow the Taiwanese flag to be displayed at international sports events (sometimes even those held on Taiwanese soil!), and the list could go on practically forever. It’s not all scowls and frowns though. Militaristic nationalism has a cute side too.
When I lived in Shanghai I remember hearing an audio ad along similar lines that ran in Carrefour supermarkets. From memory it involved a bunch of Chinese children celebrating because Taiwanese children from ‘our precious little island’ were coming to play and bringing a bunch of, presumably tributary, mangoes.
Too good not to share. . .
I have been going into Hostaria 24 so regularly that the other night the Italian boss stopped by my table just as I was finishing my meal to have a drink with me.
He had noticed me gradually working my way through his rum list and offered me whatever rum I wanted on the house. We got chatting about the rum. Surprisingly, his more unusual rums all come from New York, arranged by a friend working in wine sales. The irony of a restaurant in the Caribbean sourcing rum from New York! If only more restaurants would go to this kind of trouble.
This is another rum review from the selection at Hostaria 24 in Sosua, Dominican Republic. The other night I tried their two El Dorado rums, the 12 YO and the 15 YO. Both were good. However, I am only going to review only the 15 YO here. The 12 YO was the end of a bottle and tasting oxidized. I got big banana tastes and not a whole lot else. The 15 YO was from a fresh bottle, and having drunk it on two consecutive nights I think I can write a reasonable review.
El Dorado 15 YO
The main bar strip in Sosua has an excellent little Haitian-staffed Italian restaurant called Hostaria 24. The pasta there is always al dente, the sauces are great, and to keep things interesting they even do Haitian stewed goat. The real bonus though is their rum selection. The menu lists an impressive range of rums from Haiti, Martinique, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Guyana. If nothing on the list tickles your fancy you will find more rums sitting around behind the bar that somehow never made it onto the menu.
I have been eating there regularly as I try and work my way through their rum list. Yesterday I stopped by for some spaghetti carbonara, which I washed down with Prestige Beer (Haiti’s national brand), Monte Cristo 12 year old rum, and Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo de Solera. Tasting notes follow. No tasting notes on the spaghetti but it was good.
Prestige Beer (5.6%)
Rum in the Dominican Republic is about more than just Brugal. Besides the omnipresent giant there are a host of other producers, including Barcelo, Bermudez, Don Rhon, Macorix and Siboney. You just have to look a little harder to find their products. In this tasting I focus on aged offerings from producers other than Brugal.
