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Costa Rica Culture | Food | Recipes

Costa Rica has essentially a fusion cuisine. It is a wonderful concoction of Italian, African, French, Chinese, and Spanish traditional cooking. But it has the essences of Costa Rica itself. Most of the recipes of Costa Rica show their innate additions of different flavors. The dishes have beans, rice and corns.

The recipes also include the use of taro roots, sweet potatoes and cassava. The common spices used are garlic, annatto, coriander, parsley, oregano, saffron, thyme and nutmeg. The cooking medium used is vegetable oil, lard and olive oil. They also use sauces like Soy, Lizano and Worcestershire. Mild to light seasoning is put for adding that extra touch to the already fabulous food.

Visitors to Costa Rica often comment about the non-descript food found in the land of Costa Rica. They say it is very unimaginative primarily due to the presence of the ubiquitous gallo pinto that is rice mixed with beans with a hint of onion, cilantro and red pepper.

Whatever might be the case Costa Rica cuisine can never be boiled down to such a level. There are a number regional cuisines and Tico recipes that should be kept in mind before the word uninteresting can be attached to Costa Rican food. 

The recipes of Costa Rica show that they have a bigger variety than one could have ever thought of. There is much beyond the gallo pinto that forms the staple diet. The popular dishes in the main course are the higado en salsa (beef liver salsa), Arroz Guacho (sticky rice), Escaveche (chicken escaveche), Barbudos (String bean omelet), Mondongo (Beef Stomach Soup), pozole, ceviche, Arroz con Pollo (chicken rice), Frito (Pork Stew) Olla de Carne and the Papas con Chorizo (Chorizo sausage with potatoes).

If one goes through the recipes of Costa Rica one will surely see that it has all the components of a good meal. It contains every thing right from refreshing drinks to desserts and tapas replete with main courses, and soups. The common refreshments are the Horchata, which is made from grounded cinnamon and rice, Resbaladera made from barley and rice and the Pinolillo a cocoa corn drink. 

The common tapas are Platanos asados (Baked Ripe Plantains), Platanos Maduros (Fried Ripe Plantains), Pejibayes (Peach Palm), Picadillo de Papaya Verde (Minced Green Papaya), Picadillo de Chayote con Elote (Minced Vegetable Pear with Corn) and Picadillo de Vainicas (Minced String Beans with Beef).

The common dessert recipes of Costa Rica include the Arroz con leche (rice pudding), queque seco (Orange Pound Cake), Torta Chilena, Miel de Chiverre (Sweet White Spaghetti Squash), Tres Leches Suspiros (Maringues) and the Dulce de Leche.

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