COSTA RICAN COOKING ====================== From and with thanks to © http://costa-rica-guide.com/Introduction/Recipes.htm#gallo which also has recipes for: Sopa Negra | Ceviche | Tico Rice | Palmito Salad | Arroz con Leche | Sopa de Pejibaye | Mayonnaise Gallo Pinto (beans and rice) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No one who's ever visited Costa Rica is likely to forget gallo pinto, and those who haven't visited rarely understand how people can be so enamoured to rice and beans. Ticos look at you like you're a little crazy if you ask how to make it; sort of like if you asked a Brit how to make a cup of tea. Everyone knows you just cook the beans, cook the rice, and then cook them together! It's almost that simple, but we finally got a recipe when our friend Quincho from Heredia visited us in Colorado, and we watched over his shoulder as he cooked up a batch. Gallo Pinto (beans and rice): 1 lb (450 gr.) Black beans. Fresh are best but most likely you’ll find them dried. 8-10 sprigs Cilantro (coriander leaf) fresh or frozen, not dried! 1 sm or med Onion ½ small Red or yellow sweet pepper (optional) 3 cups (700 ml) Chicken broth or water 2 cups (350 ml) White rice ½ tsp (2.5 ml) Salt 1 Tblsp (15 ml) Vegetable oil 1-3 Tblsp Oil to fry the Gallo Pinto If beans are dried, cover with water and soak overnight, if they are fresh, just rise them off. Drain the beans and add fresh water to an inch (2.5-cm) above the top of the beans, salt, and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce heat to very low simmer until beans are soft (~3 hours). Chop cilantro, onion, and sweet pepper very fine. Add 1 Tblsp oil to a large pan and sauté the dry rice for 2 mins over medium high flame Add half of the chopped onion, sweet pepper and cilantro and sauté another 2 mins. Add water or chicken broth, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer until rice is tender (20-35 mins). This is also the recipe for Tico rice used in other favorites like tamales. Once the rice and beans are cooked you can refrigerate or freeze them. Keep a significant amount of the “black water” with the beans (½-1 cup 120-240 ml). This is what gives the rice its color and some of its flavor. Sauté the rice, beans rest chopped onion, sweet pepper and cilantro together in vegetable oil for a few minutes. Sprinkle with a little fresh chopped cilantro just before serving. Once the rice and beans are cooked you can also refrigerate or freeze them. Make up small batches of Gallo Pinto when you want it by simply sautéing them together. In Guanacaste they sometimes use small very hot red peppers instead of or in addition to the sweet. Some people add a tablespoon or so of salsa Lizano or Chilera to the beans while they're cooking. Our friend always simmered the beans all-day and preheated the water or chicken broth for the rice. From and with thanks to © http://costa-rica-guide.com/Introduction/Recipes.htm#gallo which also has recipes for: Sopa Negra | Ceviche | Tico Rice | Palmito Salad | Arroz con Leche | Sopa de Pejibaye | Mayonnaise +++ El Vinagre Chilera ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only thing that appears on a Tico table more frequently than Salsa Lizano is Chilera (you'll have to ask for salt and pepper outside of tourist restaurants). Our friend Roman taught us how to make it over the course of few weeks at his coffee farm in San Francisco. El Vinagre Chilera 1 bunch of Bananas (15-20 lbs) 2 heaped handfuls Chili peppers of the hottest you can find 6 large Carrots 4 large Onions 2 large Sweet peppers (yellow or orange) 1 head of Cauliflower ½ lb (250 gr.) Green beans 1-2 750 ml Guaro, or similar clear, glass, small neck bottles and half a dozen 300 ml small neck glass bottles. Actually, what you buy at the supermarket is a hand of bananas. Bunches are the whole stalk (15-75 lbs). To make banana vinegar, hang the bunch in the sun with a bucket below. After a day or two, they'll start "cooking". Over three to five days, the peels will be reduced to black shells and the bucket will fill with sweet thin syrup. Put the syrup to the glass bottles and stopper loosely (fermentation will shatter the bottles if corked tightly). Stand in a cool shaded location to ferment for about a week. This "sour dough" fermentation, uses whatever microbes have dropped into the bucket whilst you were collecting the banana juice. When the bubbling stops, move the bottles back into the sun for a few days to UV sterilize the contents. Chop the vegetables so they just fit through the neck of the small bottles. Loosely pack each bottle full of hot peppers and vegetables then fill with the banana vinegar and cap. Store in a cool place for at least two weeks before using. From and with thanks to © http://costa-rica-guide.com/Introduction/Recipes.htm#gallo which also has recipes for: Sopa Negra | Ceviche | Tico Rice | Palmito Salad | Arroz con Leche | Sopa de Pejibaye | Mayonnaise Tamales ~~~~~~~ Tamales are a traditional Tico Christmas specialty, but many tipico restaurants serve them year round for the tourists, and if you're a really good boy sometimes Christmas comes in July. We met Emilse and Joya at their home in Pital, and in the course of the small talk about what we liked about their country it came out that my favorite Tico dish was the tamales I'd had on a previous Christmas trip. I was surprised on a subsequent visit in mid-July with the best batch of tamales I've ever tasted. Now I'm sure to make it clear that tamales are my favorite whenever anyone asks. Thanks go out to Roiner for taking the time to get us this recipe from the ladies who make them for the holiday festivities in La Fortuna de Bagaces (where I first tasted them). Tamales 2 lbs Instant corn masa mix 3 lbs (1.4 kg) Pork shoulder roast (or beef roast or boneless chicken) ¼ lb (110 gr) Pork lard (or vegetable shortening) 1 cup (240 ml) Corn oil ~5 cups Cooked Tico style rice, see ingredient list and recipe below) 2 ¼ lbs (1 kg) Potatoes 8 cloves Garlic ½ lb (225 gr) Sweet or hot peppers to taste 1 large onion 2 ¼ lbs (1 kg) Banana leaves (or corn husks or, if desperate, aluminum foil) Coriander leaves (cilantro), Salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano, achiote (annato) If you are adventurous and demand complete authenticity, you must start from raw corn ground for tamales (3 lbs, 1.4 kg Maíz cascado, malido crudo). Soak the flour in water then rinse it well, cook with a tablespoon of achiote, and a little of the garlic and peppers in salted water to just cover until tender then stand overnight. The next day, knead it into dough. You should probably have a demonstration first if you're going to try this method. For first timers we'd suggest the Masa version described below. Chop the meat into large (2", 5 cm) chunks then brown on high heat in the ½ cup lard or vegetable oil. Add the chopped garlic, peppers, onion, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp salt for the last minute or two of browning, then cover with water and simmer until very tender (2-3 hours). Remove the meat from the broth and reserve the broth. When the meat is cool shred it finely. While the meat is simmering prepare the potatoes and rice. Peel the potatoes and boil with salt, cilantro, and oregano to taste until soft. Cool and cut into ½ inch (1 cm) cubes. Cooking the rice Tico style ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3-5 sprigs Cilantro (coriander leaf) 1/2 med Onion ½ sm Red or yellow sweet pepper 3 cps (700ml) Chicken broth or water 2 cps (350ml) White rice ½ tsp (2.5ml) Salt 1 Tblsp (15ml) Vegetable oil Chop cilantro, onion, and sweet pepper very fine. Add 1 Tablespoon oil to a large pan and sauté the dry rice for 2 minutes over medium high flame Add the chopped onion, sweet pepper and cilantro and sauté another 2 minutes. Add water or chicken broth, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer until rice is tender (20-35 minutes). To prepare the masa, allow the meat broth to cool until it is just warm. To the dry masa add 1 tblsp salt, 1 tsp ground cumin, and 1 tsp ground achiote, and mix dry. Then add the vegetable oil, mix with your hands while adding the warm broth. It should take about 2 1/2 cups to make a paste the consistency of mashed potatoes. Mix and add slowly, and if get it too thin, add a little more masa. Make tamales Wash the banana leaves then cut them into ~15 inch (38 cm) squares. Spread 2 tblsp of masa paste in the center, add 1 tblsp each of potatoes, rice and meat. Fold as shown and tie with cotton string. Cook the tamales in gently boiling water for about 1 hour. Diagram at site for folding tamales in banana leaves (© R. Krueger-Koplin) If you substitute corn husks, you will need to make slightly smaller tamales, pack the pot full and steam them rather than boiling them, because the husks won't hold together while floating around. From and with thanks to © http://costa-rica-guide.com/Introduction/Recipes.htm#gallo which also has recipes for: Sopa Negra | Ceviche | Tico Rice | Palmito Salad | Arroz con Leche | Sopa de Pejibaye | Mayonnaise It is recommended to click on these other recipes which cannot be reproduced here for copyright considerations.