I find that in every country we visit I fall madly and addictively in love with one local flavour or another. It is part of the intrigue of discovering a new place, what will tantalize my taste buds here. What will be the food or drink that I will never be able to get enough of. Of course, some of them are better for my body than others. But I always tell myself, and it often means lying to myself, that I should just eat or drink as many or as much as possible because who knows when the next time is that I will be able to have one of these authentic, one of a kind specialties.
   In Burkina Faso it was Yaourt, in Spain it was Spanish Tortillas, in France it was Wine, in Guatemala  it was Pupusas, in Malaysia it was Roti Pisang and Mango Lassi, in Thailand is was Mangoes on Coconut Rice (and everything else, Thailand is Disneyland for taste buds!), in New Zealand it was coffee, in Japan it was Sushi, in Bahamas it was Pina Coladas and Cracked Conch, and now in Dominican Republic it is Batidas.
   Batidas are basically fruit milkshakes, with ice to give them that slushier texture. They are fantastic for keeping you cool on those hot days, or any day really, and compared to my Bahamas addiction to Cracked Conch and Pina Coladas, these are much healthier. 
   Luckily for me there is a fresh juice shop right in Luperon that sells batidas for the modest price of 60$RD. We were hitting it up daily but now that are boat is constantly stocked with fresh fruit and ice, we have just started making them ourselves, playing around with different flavours to find our ultimate favorite. At the shop we really like the Sapote one (although I have yet to make a good sapote batida on the boat) and from the ones we’ve made cantaloupe was a winner. Here is a simple recipe if you would like to indulge in my current addiction and see what its all about.

Ingredients:
3 cups of papaya cut into cubes
1 tsp of vanilla extract
3 cups of ice
1 qrt of milk
sugar to taste

Instructions:
1. Put all the ingredients in a blender on high speed until the ice is blended
2. Serve immediately

I am curious to hear what you’ve found to be your country specific addictions so that I can try them out the next time I visit that place, or to know if I have been naively missing out on something extraordinary.

My local Batida shop

A little experimenting