La Comida de

Costa Rica

¿Dónde está?(Where is it at?)

La comida de Costa Rica• Costa Rican cuisine is known for being flavorful, yet fairly

mild, with high reliance on fresh fruit and vegetables. • Fresh vegetables are a primary ingredient in most main

dishes, and members of the squash family are particularly common. These include varieties such as: calabacín, zapallo, chayote, and ayote.

• Potato, onion, sweet red pepper, corn on the cob, yuca , ñampi, and camote are other common ingredients. These vegetables are often used in soups (sopas) which are usually made with beef or pork ribs as a base.

Calabacín(zucchini)

Zapallo o Calabaza(Pumpkin)

Chayote(chayote)

Ayote(squash)

Yuca(yuca)

• A potato-like root vegetable

Ñampi(ñampi)

• This hairy root vegetable looks somewhat like a potato. However, the flavor is nutty and very earthy. Some people say that it tastes more like an nut than a vegetable.

Camote(sweet potato)

The main staple, known as gallo pinto, consists of rice and black beans.

Quiero comer un casadoFor lunch, the traditional national dish is called a casado. It again consists of rice and beans served side by side instead of mixed. There will usually be some type of meat (carne asada, fish, pork chop, or chicken) and a salad to round out the dish.

Me gustaría la salsa lizano• Salsa Lizano is one of

the most common condiments and is a popular ingredient in cooking various dishes, including gallo pinto.

• Think the Costa Rican equivalent of Ketchup

¿Podría darme el arroz con pollo?• In many family gatherings

or for special occasions it is very common to prepare Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken) accompanied with a Russian Salad, a salad made with beets, potatoes, hard boiled eggs and mayo. These two dishes are very popular in Costa Rican cuisine.

Plátano grande• The plantain, a larger

member of the banana family, is another commonly used fruit and can be served in a variety of ways. Ripe plantains (maduro) have a sweet flavor and can be fried in butter, baked in a honey or a sugar-based sauce, or put in soups. Green (unripe) plantains can be boiled in soups or can be sliced and fried to make patacones.

Otros Platos(Other dishes)

• patacones with black bean dip • chimichurri (a sauce of tomatos, onions, and herbs

pickled in lime juice) accompanied with tortilla chips• chifrijo (rice and beans with chicharrones, which are

fried pork skins, and chimichurri)• ceviche (fish and/or shrimp with onions, peppers,

and lime juice) • vigorón (cabbage, chimichurri, and yucca served

with a slice of lime).

Cáfe y Plátanos• Coffee and bananas are the two main

agricultural exports of the country and also form part of the local cuisine.

Refrescos• The traditional drinks for

lunch are called refrescos or frescos for short and consist of liquefied fruits diluted in either water or milk and sweetened to taste. They come in many varieties such as melon (melón), blackberry (mora), strawberry (fresa), watermelon (sandía), mango (mango), tamarind (tamarindo), passion fruit (maracuyá), and lemon or lime (limón o limón verde).

Pastel de Tres LechesAlso called Three-Milk Cake, the national dessert of Costa Rica is a dense, moist cake topped with a cloud of vanilla whipped cream. What makes it unusual is that after baked, it is perforated and soaked in a mixture of three different milk products: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk or heavy cream, hence the name Tres Leches. The three milks, when combined, create just the right sweetness, density and "mouth feel" for a rich cake, making it moist but not mushy. The cake is like one big giant sponge soaking up the delicious milk syrup.