Overview
One reason I travel is to experience new cultures. The best way to do that is through food. Not the tourist places where you get some chef’s interpretation of local food for an American palate. I like to eat what the locals eat. In this article, I will highlight some of Costa Rica’s food. I did expand the definition of food a bit to include coffee. Coffee is important to the country both culturally and economically.
Coffee
Our tour of Cafe Los Volcanes was both educational and fun. Pancho, the owner, walked us through the complete life cycle of coffee, from seed to finished cup. We saw small, one-year-old plants and others producing coffee beans.
Pancho had us feed beans through a mill that cleans them. Then we spread a wheelbarrow full on a covered concrete floor to dry. Learning by doing at its best. We learned to remove the layers from the coffee beans, roast them, and bag them for shipment. We also saw the beans being ground for use on the plantation.
Then Pancho took the group into a kitchen where he explained the traditional method of making coffee in his country. He mixed the ground coffee with hot water in a pitcher and stirred for two minutes. Then he poured that mixture through a filter hanging over the serving pot. Next, those who wanted to could try the coffee.
After the tasting, the staff served us a great lunch. I noticed they cooked over wood fires, even though propane and natural gas were readily available. They fired the coffee roasters with natural gas. Later, I would learn that many Costa Ricans prefer the slight smoky flavor the wood provided.
A day in the life
I covered our visit to the Juanilama Women’s Association in an article on my site, offering another look at Costa Rican food. So this will just be a quick overview. Our group worked alongside the association’s women to make lunch for both groups. We had traditional tortillas, fried plantains, rice, veggies, and more.
Day-to-day meals
Almost every day we had local food during lunch or dinner. Sometimes, I will admit, I had some American favorites for a change of pace, like hamburgers with fries or wood-fired pizza. The food looks monotonous. Even for breakfast, we were served rice and beans. I learned that Costa Rica’s national dish is called Casado. It consists of rice, beans, a salad, and plantains. Often, meat is added.
We often had soup with our dinners. I’m a huge fan of soup and wasn’t disappointed with any of the offerings. One of the most interesting dishes was ice cream made with vanilla beans grown on the farm that served it. Very farm-to-table. We ate this treat on an observation platform overlooking a lush tropical valley.
Conclusions
As I said in the opening, eating like a local is one of the best methods to really discover a place. We had plenty of opportunities to experience Costa Rican food during our tour. But yes, I did have a hamburger and fries once.
