Costa Rican cuisine
Rice and black beans are a staple of most traditional Costa Rican meals, often served three times a day.
Cities such as San José, the capital, and beach destinations frequented by tourists offer a range of ethnic foods, from Peruvian to Japanese.
Chinese and Italian food is especially popular with Ticos (the local name for anybody Costa Rican; Tica is also sometimes used for women), and can be found around the country, though with varying levels of quality.
[2] Food is an important aspect of Costa Rican culture, and family gatherings and celebrations are often centered around meals.
[3] The indigenous people of Costa Rica, including the Chorotega, consumed maize as a large part of their diet during the pre-Columbian era.
Although modern Costa Rican cuisine is very much influenced by the Spanish conquest of the country, corn still maintains a role in many dishes.
Tamales, originally introduced to all of Central America by the Aztecs, are served at nearly all celebratory events in Costa Rica and especially at Christmas.
They are made out of dough of cornmeal, lard, and spices, stuffed with various mixtures of meat, rice, and vegetables and wrapped and steamed in a plantain or banana leaf.
The Chorotega native people prefer to stuff their tamales with deer or turkey meat, pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, and sweet peppers.
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 (platanos maduros) have a sweet flavor and can be fried in oil, baked in a honey or a sugar-based sauce, or put in soups.
It has a tangy flavor and combines the following ingredients: water, sugar, salt, onions, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, pepper, mustard, turmeric, and monosodium glutamate.
[citation needed] Gallo pinto, which has a literal meaning of "spotted rooster", is the national dish of Costa Rica.
Casado means "married man" in Spanish, acquiring the name from when wives would pack their husbands a lunch in a banana leaf when they left to go work in the fields.
At family gatherings or for special occasions, it is very common to prepare arroz con pollo, which is rice with chicken mixed with vegetables and mild spices, and of course Salsa Lizano.
Bocas, or boquitas, are Costa Rican-style appetizers, usually consisting of a small snack item or portion of a dish typically served at a main meal.
Patacones are a typical boquita, along with gallos, or small Tico-style tacos consisting of beef, chicken, or arracache (a starchy vegetable) inside a warm corn tortilla.
Ceviche, sometimes spelled seviche, is a dish made up of raw fish and seafood that can include octopus, shrimp, shellfish, tilapia, dorado, dolphinfish and sea bass.
[1] Most common brands are available, although in rural areas, vendors sometimes sell soft drinks in plastic bags, which are cheaper than cans or bottles.
The government created the brand of guaro called Cacique (meaning chieftain) in an effort to stop illegal moonshine manufacturing.
