Dominica!

My searches for food from Dominica kept coming back with food from Dominican Republic (which is also on my list!), but I was able to narrow it down by searching for brown stew chicken which is a popular dish on one of the youngest Caribbean islands. There was a Caribbean restaurant I passed on my many trips to the lake this summer, so I decided to try their version.

Bratenhal Kitchen is a little carryout spot in between Bratenhal and North Collinwood that seems to have a steady stream of take out orders. I placed my order online - brown stew chicken, plantains, and a Ting - and headed over to pick it up 20 minutes later.

The lobby is full of people declaring it "the best food ever" and marking their name on the wall. The menu board is handwritten with the handful of dishes they offer: curry/jerk/brown stew chicken, curry/sautee shrimp, brown stew fish, escovich (snapper), curry goat, oxtail, pepper steak, and beef patties. The meals are all served with rice & beans and sauteed cabbage and range between $10-20 each.

Brief history, courtesy of Dominica's tourism website: Dominica’s first inhabitants, the Ortoroids, arrived from South America around 3100 B.C., and lasted on the island until around 400 B.C. Next came the Arawaks, who settled in about 400 A.D. By 1400, the Kalinago or “Caribs” moved aggressively up the Caribbean from South America, eliminating the Arawak from the region, including Dominica. When Columbus ushered in the era of colonization to Dominica in 1493, the same fate that befell the Arawaks would threaten the Caribs.

Ignoring the Kalinago name of “Waitukubuli,” Columbus renamed the island Dominica as he first made landfall on a Sunday. The Kalinago successfully resisted efforts of Spanish colonization, but the British and French followed from the 1600s on, battling each other, and the Kalinago, to claim the Island. Through the many battles and ravaged by disease, the Kalinago gradually lost control of the island, fleeing back to South America. However, today approximately 2,000 Kalinago remain on the island, most living in the Kalinago Territory in northeast Dominica. You may note that many village names in and around Dominica are a mix of Kalinago, French, and English—reflecting the power struggles of the last 500 years.

Dominica's food has Creole roots and features a lot of local flavor. The national dish was Mountain Chicken, a now critically endangered giant ditch frog that can only be found in Montserrat (sidenote: also the font I use!) and Dominica. In 2002, the chytrid fungus devastated the population in Dominica, but through a hunting ban and captive breeding, the population is slowly returning. So, no Mountain Chicken for awhile.

Time to eat!

As I mentioned above, Bratenhal Kitchen is a carryout spot, save for a few outside

tables off to the side, so I brought the food home with me. Sadly, they were out of plantains, so it was just the brown stew chicken, rice & beans, sauteed cabbage, and trusty bottle of Ting. My son introduced me to Ting after vacationing in Tortola and I love any and all grapefruit sodas, so I'm a big fan. The plate looks decidedly UN-appetizing, but it was actually very good! The sauteed cabbage was great and the rice & beans served as a perfect base for the brown stew chicken. The chicken was falling-off-the-bone tender and had an almost sweet, thyme-heavy flavor without any of the heat that you get with jerk chicken. I regretted only getting the small size because I could have eaten a lot more!

11 down, 41 to go! 

Bratenhal Kitchen

14002 Lakeshore Blvd.

Cleveland, OH 44110

Website

Operating Hours

SUN | 1:00 - 7:00pm

MON - SAT | 10:30am - 9:00pm