Food Facts:
- Dairy Products are hardly consumed
- Lunch is the most important meal of the day
- Costa Rican food is generally healthy (when an healthy lifestyle is led)
- Meals are often served with good portions of fruit and vegetables
Common Dishes and Condiment
- Tortilla (the name for either a small, thin corn tortilla, or an omellete)
- Tortilla de queso (a thick tortilla with cheese in the dough)
- Arreglados (greasy puff pastries made with meat)
- Tortas (sandwiches on buns)
- Arroz con polo (rice with chicken and vegetables)
- Gallos (meat, beans, or cheese between two tortillas)
- Masamorra (corn pudding)
- Natilla (sour cream of a relatively thin consistency)
- Palomitas de maíz (popcorn)
- Picadillo (sautéed vegetables sometimes with meat, served as a side dish)
- Tacos (meat and cabbage salad tucked into a tortilla)
- Tamal de elote (sweet corn tamales wrapped in corn husks)
- Tamales (cornmeal, often stuffed with pork or chicken, wrapped in banana leaves and boiled)
- Empanadas (corn turnovers filled with beans, cheese, and maybe potatoes and meat)
- Empanadas (corn turnovers filled with beans, cheese, and maybe potatoes and meat)
- Patacones (fried mashed plantains with a liberal sprinkling of salt)
- Arroz (a dish of fried rice which may be offered with chicken (pollo) or shrimp (gambas))
- Ceviche (a dish of raw fish marinated in lemon juice with cilantro and onions)
- Comida tipica black beans and rice)
Soups, Stews, Salads and Snacks include:
- The plantain, or plántano, is a commonly found snack in Cost Rica. It looks like a large banana however it can not be eaten raw. When deep fried the plantain resembles the taste of a potato chip
- Olla de carne is a delicious stew made with beef, potatoes, carrots, chayote (vegetable pear), plantains and yucca
- Sopa negra is a simple soup made with black beans
- The hearty Sopa de mondongo is made with tripe and vegetables
- Guiso de maíz is a corn stew
- Cabbage, tomatoes, and carrots make up the typical salad
Vegetables and Fruits include:
- Vegetables are used mostly in soups and stews, or, as a side dish for a meal
- Corn is one of the most favored vegetables, and it is usually prepared in the form of tortillas and corn pancakes.
- Corn on the cob is sometimes roasted (elote esado), or boiled (elote cocinado)
Fruits found in Costa Rica include:
- papaya
- mango
- piña (pineapple)
- sandía (watermelon)
- melón (cantaloupe)
- moras (blackberries)
- limones (lemons)
- guayaba (guava)
- granadilla (passion fruit)
- aguacates (avocados)
- Marañon (a curious fruit whose seed is a cashew)
- Zapotes (a brown fruit resembling an oversized avocado in appearance and texture however unlike the avocado their pulp is very sweet and bright red-orange in colour)
- Guanábanas (soursop are textured, green football-sized fruits with white fibrous flesh)
- Pipas (green coconuts)
- The pejibaye (a relative of the coconut, is a bizarre fruit, it's flesh is thick and fibrous, and resembles the taste of chestnut or pumpkin)
- The manzana de agua (a dark red, pear-shaped fruit that is full of juice)
- The palmito (palm heart is the inner core of a small palm tree)
- Carambola (starfruit is a yellow-green tender fruit that when cut across makes slices that look like five-pointed stars. The taste is lightly sweet and juicy)
Beverages
- Refrescos (made of blended fruit and ice, are very popular refreshments, and are available at most corner stores and restaurants)
- Horchata (a sweet and spicy drink, is made of roasted ground rice and cinnamon
- Coffee (an extremely popular drink)
- Beer (a common drink among Costa Ricans)
- Wine (not very popular however can be imported but is expensive.)
- Guaro (the "working man's drink" (a clear white spirit that doesn't always appeal to visitors)
Meat and Fish
- Roast Pork
- Chicken
- Steak
- Fresh Seafood (near the coast
Bread, Deserts and Sweets
- Cajeta de coco (a fudge made of coconut, tapa dulce, and orange peel
- Cono capuchino - an ice cream cone dipped in chocolate)
- Melcochas (candies made from raw sugar)
- Milanes and tapitas (small, delicious, pure-chocolate candies)
- Tapa dulce (brown sugar, native to Costa Rica, sold in a solid form)
- Dulce de leche (a thick syrup made of sugar and milk)
- Tres leches (a three-layered custard flan, and the national desert)
- Pan bon (a dark, sweet bread of Limon)
- Pan de maíz (a thick, sweet bread made with corn)
- Queque seco (pound cake)
- Tamal asado (sweet cornmeal cake)
- Torta chilena (a multi-layered pastry filled with dulce de leche)
Facts
1) Costa Rica has a population of 4,726,575 (as of 2011)
2) The Guanacaste is Costa Rica's national tree and the clay-colored thrush is the national bird. The national flower is the guaria morada, an orchid.
3) Costa Rica has a life expectancy of almost 77 years, one of the highest in the world.
4) The capital is San Jose and it's currency is the Costa colón
5) Costa Rica's official language is Spanish, though a large number of its citizens are bilingual. English, due to its status as the international language of tourists, is the most common second language in Costa Rica.
6) The Tempisque River Bridge (known locally as El Puente de Amistad) that connects the mainland to the Nicoya Peninsula was a gift from Taiwan.
7) A soda is a small, informal restaurant that serves traditional meals like chicken, rice, beans and salad for $2-$3 a plate.
8) A pulperia is a neighborhood store that sells essential foodstuffs like canned goods, eggs, milk, bread and some produce.
9) Costa Rica is divided into seven provinces: San Jose, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limon.
10) Irazu is the tallest volcano in Costa Rica at 11,259 feet.
12) There are 800 miles of coastline in Costa Rica between the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
Regional Expressions
- Mae (my) -Mae can be used to mean "dude" between friends, or simply to refer to any man or woman
- Pura vida (poor-ah vee-dah) -Pura vida means "pure life," but more than anything, it's a way of life. This phrase symbolizes the Costa Rican idea of letting things go, and simply enjoying life.
- Tico / Tica (tee-ko/tee-ka) -Due to a quirk of speech, Costa Ricans are called Ticos. Since Spanish uses gendered nouns, a Costa Rican man is a Tico, and a Costa Rican woman is a Tica.
- aguevado (ah-gway-va-doh) -bored or boring
- brete (bre-tay) -work or job
- chunche (choon-chay) -thingamajig
- como amaneció? (coh-moh ah-mahn-es-ee-oh) -how are you this morning?
- güila (gwee-lah) -Despite its meaning in Mexico, a guila in Costa Rica is merely a "girl"
- la choza (lah choh-sah) -home
- pulperia (pool-pehr-ee-ah) -a small corner store
- soda (soh-dah) -a small, family-run typical restaurant
- tome chichi! (toe-may chee-chee) -Though this phrase has no direct translation, it's essentially a teasing form of "take that!"
Holidays and Festivals
Holidays
- January 1st: New Years Day- Is celebrated with a big dance San Jose's Parque Cenral
- March 19th: St.Joseph's Day- Is celebrated in honour of the patron saint of San Jose and the province of St.Jose
- April 11th: Juan Santamaria Day-Is celebrated to commemorate the national hero fought at the battle of Rivas against the American invader William Walker in 1856
- May 1st: Dia de los Trabajadores (Labor Day)- Is celebrated with parades. Also few work on this holiday
- June 25th: Guanacaste Day- Is celebrated to mark the annexation of guanacaste from Nicaragua in 1824
- August 15th: Assumption Day- Is celebrated to honour the Virgin Mary rising into heaven after her death *Also Mother's Day*
- September 15th: Independence Day- Is celebrated with big patriotic parades to celebrate Costa Rica's independence from Spain in 1821
- November 2nd: All soul's day-Is celebrated to commemorate the faithful departed
- December 25th- Christmas Day- Is celebrated with family-orientated trips to the beach. Also many apples and oranges are consumed
Festivals
Costa Rica hosts many fiestas, horse parades and carnivals celebrated throughout the country. These festivities provide a great opportunity to sample tasty food, make new friends, and learn the local traditions of this fascinating country. They reflect what is import to the Costa Ricans. Some festivals include:
- Coffee Cup. A much-anticipated, week-long junior tennis tournament hosted at the Costa Rica Country Club
- Alajuelita Fiestas. An oxcart parade and parties to honor the Black Christ of Esquipulas
- Mardi Gras (in Esterillos): A carnival with parades, street foods, music, children's games and dancing
THE END
11) More than 25% of Costa Rica’s land is dedicated to national parks, reserves and wildlife refuges. There are more than 100 different protected areas to visit.
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COSTA RICA!
Food