Etno Mix 2022 | A gastronomic festival in Las Terrenas

The Etno Mix Festival, a cyclic event happening in Dominicana, is a fantastic opportunity to get to know the culture and cuisine of Latin American countries (and not only!). What did I get to see and what dishes did I taste? Check out the Etno Mix 2022 review as seen by TravelOverSky!

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About the Etno Mix Festival

The Etno Mix Festival happens on a yearly basis, usually around 12th of October, to celebrate The Columbus Day (Día de la Raza), which is a day commemorating the arrival of Christopher Columbus to America. This year the party has been postponed to November due to Hurricane Fiona hitting Dominicana. Thanks to the date change I was able to participate in the festival.

The Etno Mix Festival makes a perfect opportunity to learn about other countries’ cultures and taste their cuisine without leaving Dominicana.

The goal of the festival is to present widely understood culture and typical dishes and snacks of both Americas. The party is dedicated to everyone, both children and adults. At the location itself, besides the stands with local cuisine of individual countries, there were also stands with handicraft and craft products.

The attractions of the festival

This year the festival offered tasting the dishes and checking out the prepared artistic programs of Dominicana, Haiti, United States, Canada, Italy, France, Columbia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, Chile and Jamaica.

I did not manage to get to each and every stand, but those I visited were a feast for my taste buds!

During the festival there was a chance to see an interesting fashion show, which used recycled materials. All of the models looked gorgeous in extraordinary outfits!

The festival attracted many people not only from different corners of Dominicana, but also the foreigners. Unfortunately weather (rain to be precise) slightly amended my plans of participation in the festival during each of three days.

Before my culinary summary I need to point to the fact that the Etno Mix Festival was very poorly advertised. I learned about this event purely by accident – I was invited by the owners of the Empanadas y mas Restaurant, who represented Chile at the festival. Apart from that there was one post on Facebook and nothing more… Unfortunately, many people missed this event due to the lack of information. I hope that during next editions the organizers will take it as a lesson learned and it will be better announced.

The culinary summary of Etno Mix 2022

🇭🇹 Haiti

I stopped at a Haiti stand to taste coconut liqueur and beer coming from the western border of Dominicana. It was the only place where not only food was being sold, but also alcohol beverages, t-shirts and souvenirs.

🇮🇹 Italy

The Italian stand offered a quite varied menu – you could taste a classic lasagna and desserts – tiramisu and crostata. Italians also offered craft beer from the Apennine Peninsula. I have to admit that Italian food was delicious and prepared from the highest quality ingredients.

🇫🇷 France

The French menu was a little less varied from the Italian one, but it was not without classic baguettes and crepes. I had the pleasure of tasting a baguette with ham and cheese, and also crepes with honey and Nutella. The French stand needs to be praised for fighting the plastic and polystyrene wrappings – their dishes were served in eco paper and small paper packages.

🇨🇴 Columbia

I went to the Colombian stand quite early, moments after the start of the festival on day two, which is why not all of the meals were available. Even despite this, I tried the Colombian arepas and a chocolate based on a locally grown cocoa. The prices at the Colombian stand were probably the most attractive ones out of the whole festival – the arepa was 35$ and the chocolate 40RD$. The Colombian chocolate was full of spices and very tasty.

🇻🇪 Venezuela

I visited Venezuela during lunch time, which is why many of the dishes were already sold out, such as tequeños, which I really wanted to try. I managed to order plato navideño, the plane tree patacones, cachapas and Venezuelan arepa. The Venezuelan food was probably the most delicious one out of all those I had the pleasure to try at the festival! The portions were huge, which is why I shared each meal with my companions.

🇸🇻 El Salvador

The menu of El Salvador consisted of, among others, classical pupusas and empanadas in El Salvador style. I ordered both and I have to admit that pupusas were extraordinary – a corn flour dough filled with red beans, cheese and chicken. And the empanadas, to my surprise, were made of plane tree! The ladies of El Salvador are the owners of a restaurant located at the capital of Dominicana, which is why I will surely visit their place to taste more 😀

🇨🇱 Chile

Chile was represented by the owners of my favorite Las Terrenas restaurant – Empanadas y más (you can read more about it in the post: Where to eat in Las Terrenas). The festival had some kind of field conditions, which is why Chilean empanadas were not fried (as it is done in the restaurant), but rather baked. I have to make a remark here that the restaurant version of empanadas is much better – you need to check it out!

The festival menu also had classic ceviche, choripan (a Chilean style hot dog) and a delicious cake with dulce de leche and lime cream. The portions were smaller compared to the restaurant, but the prices were also proportionally lower.

🇯🇲 Jamaica

I had the pleasure of getting to know Jamaican food during my trip to Trynidad, which is why I was super curious about what has been prepared for the Etno Mix. Unfortunately, the first time I got there was too late – literally everything was sold out, and the second time I was too early – the food was not ready yet.

But still, I got to try Jamaican punch based on oatmeal and nuts. It was so delicious! The beverage was delicate, but on the other hand you could taste a hint of nuts.

I did not get to the cuisine of Dominicana, Mexico and North America – I ran out of time and space in my stomach.

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