March 14–20, 2007, Number 138
This picture is of me cutting up vegetables for the gazpacho soup.
Costa Rican Food
Costa Rican food is definitely different from what I am use to in the United States. Although there are many foods from the U.S. that I miss, I am grateful for the opportunity I have here to sample a variety of new and interesting foods.
Practically every meal is served with rice and beans. Gallo pinto, which is rice and beans mixed together, is very popular, especially for breakfast. A Casado is a typical meal served in Costa Rica. This dish is normally served with your choice of chicken, beef, or fish. It also comes with rice, beans, salad, and fried plantain. Casados are served at nearly all restaurants that serve Costa Rican food and vary in price, on average, from from $2 to $5. I would recommend the chicken casados. If you are not sure what to order at a local soda (a soda is a small, Costa Rican restaurant), a casado is usually a safe bet. A lot of fried food is served here and butter is used in large quantities as well, which I am not use to. When I first got here my stomach hurt a lot after eating. My body must have adapted to the heavy food, because I do not get sick too often anymore. I have to admit that I am looking forward to cooking with olive oil and eating whole wheat bread when I get back to the States. On the flip side, the fruit is cheap and fresh here. Everyday I am served fresh cut pineapple, cantaloupe, and watermelon.
This picture is of my spanish class enjoying the fresh gazpacho we made.
El gazpacho andaluz is a soup that originated in Spain. This soup, served cold, is a blended combination of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, olive oil and garlic. Last week, my Spanish class made gazpacho. We combined all the ingredients and blended them until the soup reached a thick, creamy consistency. It was light and fresh. I really liked it. It tasted like a homemade V-8 juice with a heavy dose of garlic. The garlic might prove to be beneficial. From what I´ve heard, if you eat a lot of garlic, the mosquito's will leave you alone and I could really use a peaceful, mosquito-free night sleep. I am looking forward to making gazpacho for my family when I return to the states.
When I grow tired of eating rice and beans, I head to my favorite restaurant, Matobes. They serve wonderful Italian dishes. My favorite is the chicken fettuccine alfredo. It is served with garlic bread, salad, and more pasta than I could ever imagine eating for only $4. On any given night, this place is packed with U.S. students from my school!
Desserts are relatively simple here in Costa Rica. Generally, a plate of fruit and coffee is served. At most restaurants, I have also noticed that flan is popular. Flan, which is also served in the United States, is a baked custard desert topped with a caramel sauce. In Puntarenas, there are also many ice cream shops scattered around although, I would not recommend the banana split unless you order it without fruit. A normal banana split here is served with ice cream, banana, chocolate syrup, watermelon, grapes, jello, fruit cocktail, and whipped cream.
The town that I live in doesn´t have a great variety of food in the grocery stores. The cravings for US foods became more than I could handle. So, yesterday I traveled to the city of San Jose, about 2 1-2 hours away, to go grocery shopping. I have never in my life thought I could be so happy to see Jiffy peanut butter and Smucker's raspberry jam. I bought peanut M&M´s, whole wheat bread, and Honey Nut Cheerios. I also bought a couple of books from a bookstore that sold brand new books written in English!
This week our school has the week off. With two other students, I am going to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and then heading down to Panama for a week filled with surfing, snorkeling, relaxing, and practicing my Spanish. Have a great week!
- Adios!
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