And you’ll see a lot of people who actually have collections of them on their walls here. But some of them now are quite beautiful and intricate and painted all kinds of beautiful colors. So what you’ll find is some of them are kind of scary. They were donned by the indigenous people here to scare off the Spanish Conquistadors. Now, these colorful masks, the history of them, it’s interesting. And these are made by the indigenous boruca Indians. So suburban San Jose and that makes for a great day trip to visit these different galleries and see the colorful ceramics of Costa Rica. Santa Anna is located just west of San Jose’s. Now, ceramics of Santa Anna are another notable art form here, and there are dozens and dozens of family owned workshops in the area. Now this pottery is painstakingly made with earthenware powder mixed with a special sand and water and formed on a pottery wheel or with with tools. However, there are some notable exceptions of these traditions that have been passed down through the centuries.įirst one of note is pottery of the Nicoya Peninsula. So you don’t see a lot of native artists. It’s fantastic in its natural beauty, the endless beaches, the dynamic waterfalls, the volcanoes, but not quite the unique culture, for example, as the Maya’s or the Aztecs regionally in Central and South America. Now, as far as art and culture in Costa Rica, it’s something you don’t really think about initially. So that gives a whole different flavor to Costa Rican food as well. So there they utilize hot chili peppers and coconut milk, things that you’d find typically war on the Caribbean island. Now, on the Caribbean side, you’ve got more of an Afro Caribbean style of cooking. And you’re seeing lots of new trendy food places that are popping up in normal times in in and around the capital and other popular tourist places here. Now, another thing to note, even though Costa Rican isn’t totally a foodie scene, there are chefs from all around the world who have come here and they’re fusing their countries local flavors, along with the food that’s abundant here in Costa Rica. Typically it comes kind of in a cone on the plate along with papas fritas or French fries. Sometimes celery is used in it and various other spices. It is actually a lengthy process to make these because you’ve got tomato, onion, carrot bell, pepper and garlic. But know, it’s not just rice and chicken thrown on it. Every soda is arroz con pollo or arroz con camarones which is basically rice with chicken, or with rice with shrimp. Now, another dish that’s common and you’ll find them. Typically a small salad that might just be lettuce and tomato, plantains and a tortilla. So you will see either fish, chicken in some places, pork or beef. And what consists on this plate is typically a protein. We’ve made a casado plate for the married man who’s working far from home. And then it’s also, well, the working man who’s away from home. Some theories are that it’s all of the different food groups married on a plate. No, we’re not exactly sure where the name came from. One of them is called the casado Plate and casado in Costa Rica means married. And there’s two typical plates that you’ll find at sodas. They’re cheap and sometimes in some of the villages, you could get two meals and a drink for $10. And you find them all over Costa Rica, roadside, touristy places. These are small family-owned restaurants. And some of them even have snack booths where you can stop and get little snacks and enjoy time with the other people in your community. You will also find spices for sale, coffee, sausage, baked goods, arts and crafts. You’ll find deep seafood available, especially in the coastal areas. And it’s a great social opportunity, too. And it’s a great opportunity for farmers to bring farm-to-market fresh produce to the people in town. And you find these areas all across Costa Rica, in the big cities, in the villages, in the towns, and they happen weekly. So when you talk about food in Costa Rica, there is a great tradition called le feria, or basically a farmer’s market. We also have a great beef-growing culture here, as well as some of our own rice. If you think about it, how many tropical fruits are available in this country and vegetables? We have boneless seafood because we have the Caribbean coast. However, that doesn’t mean the food here isn’t amazing. You don’t really hear people going out for Costa Rican food. Like other countries, you know, for example, we’re making Italian food tonight or we’re going out for Thai food. Why not? Everybody loves food, right? Sure…Costa Rica isn’t deep in the foodie roots. We’re going to talk about the traditions and culture in Costa Rica. This is Kathleen Evans, International Living’s Costa Rica correspondent.
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