Quisqueya: Mad Dogs and English Couple

Ginnie Bedggood and her partner Grahame relocated to the Dominican Republic in the early 1990s and her book tells their story with great wit and sensitivity. This is, in essence, the secret of her success as an expatriate as well as a writer. Expats and their memoirs are destined to triumph when instead of focusing on the local folks and their strange ways, the writers acknowledge and understand that they are the foreigners and that it is their ways that are perceived as weird by the locals.

This book scores very high on this count. Ginnie combines a sense of humour with a sense of proportion, and a perceptive and positive attitude towards the frustrations of life in the DR that so many foreigners find so hard to cope with – while never, ever suffering fools gladly. Ginnie accepts that things are done differently here, but neither is she afraid of putting her foot down when someone crosses the line. Many, but not all of the fools she encounters along the way are visiting foreigners and would-be relocators, many of whom turn out to be comically clueless.

Another ingredient in the author’s recipe for success is that she learned Spanish well enough to live outside the expat bubble, understanding, communicating and interacting with Dominicans, who along with foreigners make up Ginnie and Grahame’s circle of friends.

Mad Dogs and English Couple is an easy and compelling read, telling the story of this particular couple’s early years in the DR, first as tenants and employees in the travel industry, then as B&B proprietors, writers and relocation advisers. Their optimism shines through: the story ends with them defying all advice and successfully building a house of their own, while at the same time tenaciously supporting a fellow foreigner who spent over a year in prison on trumped-up charges.

The ‘mad’ dogs of the title, who are not really that mad, feature throughout, but unlike some other animal-loving authors, Ginnie doesn’t let them take over.

What I would have liked to see more of were descriptions of the city and the surrounding areas, and a little more historical and cultural context, especially bearing in mind that many of her readers will have never been to Puerto Plata or the Dominican Republic.

I was sorry to reach the end of the book, but was reassured to note that the narrative finishes in the year 2000, so presumably a sequel or two may still be up Ginnie’s sleeve.

By Ilana Benady

Originally published in Dominican Today. Re-published with permission from the author.

Buy Quisqueya: Mad Dogs and English Couple!

Dominican Cookbooks galore!

If you have visited our store you would have probably noticed that we have a large selection of cookbooks by Dominican authors.

Well, we are proud to say that you will hardly find such selection under the same roof anywhere. The reason this is so is because books in this particular section have been selected by none others than the ladies at DominicanCooking.com. The reviews and recommendations also come from them.

By far the most popular cookbook we carry is Aunt Clara's Dominican Cookbook. This fantastic book is the only Dominican cookbook with photos available anywhere. And a fine book it is. It has a modern presentation, as well as good photography. I am the type of person that cannot fully enjoy a cookbook without photos, so I may be biased on this recommendations.

The authors have pledged to donate a portion of all sales of this book (not only the ones sold in our store) to a charity they support in the Dominican Republic. Because of our partnership with DominicanCooking.com we are able to offer this book at a much lower price, and with free shipping (within the continental US), this is your chance of owning this fantastic book and also help a good cause.

The authors of the above-mentioned cookbook also wanted to offer a more economic version of their book, so they also published Traditional Dominican Cookery, a text-only version. The book is well-designed and has some illustrations, so you will still enjoy it. Through our partnership we are able to offer you 50% off the cover price on this book through this season Super Deal!

But these two are not the only Dominican cookbooks available in English. The Dominican Cooking "Aunts" found another book to add to our selection. The book is called A Taste of the Caribbean: Remembrances and Recipes of the Dominican Republic. This is a smart little book. With whimsical illustrations, obscure facts about Dominican cooking, and easy-to-understand recipes this book has become one of the favorites in our cookbook section. The book is also very cheap, so there's no excuse not to buy one.

But we not only cater to the English-speaking community. We also offer a large selection of Dominican cookbooks in Spanish.

The bestselling Dominican cookbooks in Spanish are the Mujer 2000 series, of which we offer all 3 books. The first book has been in print since the early 70s, and is now in its 24th edition! By famous Dominican TV chef Silvia de Pou, these books have been called the bible of Dominican cooking. The books have a humble presentation and lack photography (which didn't stop me from owning all three). They seem to be a very popular choice as a gift for brides.

On the more fancy scale of Dominican Cookbooks in Spanish we have the next most popular cookbooks in Spanish in our shop: La Cocina Dominicana, and La Cocina Dominicana. No, you are not seeing double, we have two books with the same title.

La Cocina Dominicana by María Ramírez de Carías is an excellent Dominican cookbook in Spanish. It is a hardcover, has some color photography and the recipes are well-explained. The book printed as a collector's item, has been now out of print for years. Some copies have been on the market for insane prices. We have now a limited-time offer of 50% the list price.

La Cocina Dominicana by Ligia de Bornia can be fairly called "the encyclopedia of Dominican gastronomy". With over 500 recipes, and more information that you could possibly find anywhere (there's even a section of Dominican food for babies!), this book illustrated with a couple of dozens color photos has been in print for more than 5 decades! The book was at one time the text-book for Domestic Economy in public Dominican schools. This book is also out of print, so get it while we still have it.

Another popular book in our shop is La Magia del Azucar III by Mirian de Gautreaux. This hardcover with abundant color photography is the third book in a series printed by the Dominican Republic's best-known baker. Sophisticated techniques and amazing results are explained step by step with color photography. A great book of cake decoration techniques.

Right now we have more than two dozen Dominican cookbooks on offer. It would be too long to review each one of them in this article, but there are some others we'd like to recommend to you:

Los Dulces Dominicanos: with recipes of Dominican desserts.
Cocinar es Facil: easy Dominican recipes in this award-winning book.
El Origen de la Cocina Dominicana: Recipes and history of the Dominican cuisine.
Beyond Rice and Beans / Algo Mas que Arroz con Frijoles: Dominican recipes adapted for diabetics. Published by the American Diabetes Association. A portion of the sales will be donated to the ADA.

Check all the books in the Dominican Cookbooks section. With the holidays approaching these are the perfect gifts for that special person. And for you too.