Costa Rica for
Foodies
The feel of fresh mango juice dribbling through your fingers; the sizzle of chillies in the pan; the scent of jerk-spiced smoke wafting from a barbeque on the Caribbean coast – Costa Rican food is full of simple pleasures.
t Shopping for local produce at San José's Central Mercado
Ripe Pickings
A cornucopia of tropical fruits fill markets and roadside stalls nationwide, and it’s impossible to pass by without picking some up. Look out for maracuya (passion fruit), carambola (star fruit), pejibaye (peach palm fruit), and guanabana (soursop); eat them raw. In the towns and cities, treat yourself to “street mango” Tico-style: a baggie of salted fresh-cut mango garnished with a dash of chili powder. Wash it down with a refreshing pipa fría – coconut water drunk straight from the just-husked coco.
Get Cooking
Got a taste for gallo pinto? Try your hand at traditional home cooking in a cookery class. Often, courses include a visit to a local market or farm with the chef, who will then show you how to use the ingredients to make iconic Costa Rican dishes, such as in a hands-on class at Costa Rica Cooking (www.costaricacooking.com) in La Fortuna. Alternatively, take a deep dive into indigenous culinary culture at the Bribrí reserve near Puerto Viejo. A Foodie Tour (www.foodietourscr.com) with a Bribrí chef combines cooking with traditional storytelling.
Traditional Dishes
Costa Rica’s comida típica (regional dish) is gallo pinto. It’s so beloved that a common Costa Rican saying is "Más Tico que gallo pinto" ("More Costa Rican than gallo pinto"). The hearty and healthy dish consists of rice and beans, cooked with onions, sweet peppers, and heaps of garlic. It’s usually served with scrambled or fried eggs, cheese, avocado and a side of plátano maduro (sweet plantain) as part of a casado, another traditional dish that literally translates to “married”. Eat it at any soda (lunch counter), pepped up with spicy Lizano sauce.
Fisherman’s Friend
Flanked on either side by fish-filled seas, it’s no surprise that Costa Rica’s kitchens send divine seafood dishes to the table. Sourcing sustainable seafood takes priority in hotels and restaurants across the country. Eco-conscious Cayuga Collection group has paired their kitchens around Costa Rica with small-scale fisheries, to ensure their fish dishes use only low-impact wild seafood. Go to Product-C in San José and Malpaís, and know your plate of fresh-as-can-be warm-water oysters and pan-seared tuna were sustainably caught by local fishersmen. Check out websites like Dock to Dish (www.docktodish.com) that make tracing the origins of the daily catch easy.
DISCOVER Costa Rica Your Way
Drinks to Keep Cool
Agua de Sapo
Literally translated as “toad water”, this delicious lemonade made with brown sugar and ginger tastes a lot better than it looks.
Granizados
As much a dessert as a refreshing beverage, this tasty, teeth-zinging sugar rush is made of shaved ice flavoured with condensed milk and sweet cherry syrup.
Naturales
Also known as batidos, these fresh fruit juices are heaped with ice and hand-pressed at a standalone kiosk.
Pipa Fría
Refreshing coconut water sipped through a straw straight from the coconut shell. Half the fun is watching the seller cut it open using a machete in front of you.