Costa Rican Cuisine

In addition to the many beautiful tourist attractions in Costa Rica, the country also offers a wide variety of mouth-watering food, from refreshing tropical fruits to high-quality coffee, and rice and beans. The national dish in Costa Rica is considered to be Gallo Pinto, a dish that consists of rice and beans topped with vegetables and salsa. The dish is usually served at breakfast with eggs but is also commonly eaten at lunch and dinner with protein such as meat or fish. In different regions of Costa Rica, they use different beans depending on what is grown there. Rice and beans first were introduced to Costa Rica by the Spanish colonizers hundreds of years ago. They remain a staple Costa Rican food because rice is easy to grow and can be stored for long periods of time. Another popular dish made with rice is arroz con pollo which means rice with chicken. Arroz con pollo is a main dish of rice and chicken with greens. 

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A traditional dessert made with rice is called Arroz con Leche which means rice with milk. Arroz con Leche is a scrumptious rice pudding made with rice and a mixture of three different condensed milks and cinnamon. Some more popular desserts in Costa Rica include Tres Leches Cake which like Arroz con Leche is made with three condensed milks as evident in the name which means three milk cake. Tres Leches Cake is a spongy and sweet cake with strawberries on top. 

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Due to Costa Rica’s proximity to the ocean, with the Caribbean Sea on the east coast and the Pacific Ocean on the west coast. Seafood is another common source of protein. Ceviche is a popular appetizer made with marinated shrimp or fish. The fish or shrimp is soaked with lemon or lime juice and garnished with tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, cucumber, and onion which makes for a refreshing dish. The other main source of protein is meat which is eaten with rice, but also in empanadas and tamales which are two dishes that are eaten in a majority of Latin America and Spain. Empanadas originated from Spain and are made with spiced beef and vegetables wrapped with a crust that is baked till crispy and crunchy. They are similar to dumplings but are baked, and have different fillings, but both have a crescent shape. Tamales on the other hand are a traditional Mesoamerican dish that is made of steamed corn dough that is wrapped with banana leaves, and filled with meat, cheese, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and chilies. 

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Costa Rica has a tropical climate, resulting in many tropical fruits being grown and exported from Costa Rica because they thrive in humid climates. Some of the many tropical fruits grown there include: pineapples, bananas, plantains, rambutan, and mangosteen. Of those pineapples and bananas are the most grown and exported fruits. Another one of Costa Rica’s major food exports is Coffee. Coffee was first introduced to Costa Rica in the early nineteenth century by Cuba and since has grown prominent. Costa Rican coffee is special because it is grown in ideal conditions where there is rich soil and consistent rainfall which produces high-quality coffee beans.  In conclusion, Costa Rica’s appetizing and flavorsome cuisine is one of the many noteworthy features of the country.