These 8 dishes from Costa Rica are ones you’ll want to know
About four years ago, my life looked better at this point. Back then, I was chilling hard in Costa Rica. Mr. C. Orona unfortunately brought that chill to an abrupt end, but I enjoyed it immensely for as long as it lasted. I also loved the Costa Rican cuisine. Are you going to Costa Rica too (good idea!): you can find these 8 dishes almost everywhere, and they’re incredibly delicious.
Eating in a soda
Costa Rica is a country with a lot of American influences. If you really want to experience the locals’ way of life, you have to eat in a soda. Sodas are small, cozy restaurants run by Costa Rican families. The menu features many family recipes. Besides being super cozy and delicious, they’re also incredibly cheap. Sometimes you pay half as much for a dish in a soda as you would in a larger restaurant or chain. A win-win-win! So what can you eat in a soda in Costa Rica?
1. Gallo pinto
I think this is the most popular and best-known dish in Costa Rica. Gallo pinto basically consists of rice and beans. In a soda, it usually also comes with an egg and sweet plantain. Sometimes you even get sausages, sauce and salsa as well. Now you might be thinking: sounds good for lunch or dinner! But don’t be fooled, because this is a perfectly normal Costa Rican breakfast. It vaguely resembles a typical English breakfast; you have to enjoy it and have a strong stomach. Either way, you’ll be full for the rest of the morning—and all without paying a damn thing for it.
2. Casado
For lunch, you eat something similar, but… even more filling. Casado is once again a dish with rice and beans, only this time with meat, fish or chicken and vegetables too. It usually comes with plantain as well (a popular snack there), and sometimes a tortilla. Just like gallo pinto, casado costs next to nothing. Delicious!
3. Arroz con leche
Costa Ricans love rice. They’d happily eat it all day long—even when it’s time for dessert. The most popular dessert? Arroz con leche, or rice with milk. We know it better here as rice pudding. It’s sweet and lightly spiced thanks to additions such as cloves or cinnamon. I like it, but you do have to enjoy having bits in your food. And as it happens, I know that not everyone does.
4. Sopa negra
Sopa negra, or black bean soup, is a true Costa Rican kitchen classic. Many Costa Rican families have their own recipe, but you’ll (of course) find black beans, stock and boiled eggs in it. The latter are halved and placed on top of the soup, almost like decoration. The soup is finished with seasonings of your choice, such as chopped cilantro and onion. Perhaps not very surprising, but black bean soup is a hearty, filling meal. It makes a great base for a hike through the Costa Rican jungle.
5. Ceviche
Uh, ceviche officially comes from Peru, right? True, but they know what they’re doing with it in Costa Rica too. Paper-thin slices of fish cured in lime, topped with red chilies, cilantro and onion. Fresh, spicy and wonderfully buttery in texture: you simply have to order this when you’re in Costa Rica. Nowhere else in the world will you get ceviche quite as good as here (and in Peru, of course).
6. Queque de tres leches
It sounds funny, and the flavor will put a smile on your face too: queque de tres leches. There’s a good chance you’ll find this dish in the dessert section of the menu. What is it? Basically, it’s a kind of cake made with three different types of milk. Usually whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk. Eggs and cream are also standard ingredients in a queque de tres leches. The cake can be decorated in all kinds of ways; each soda has its own surprise. Perfect if you want to alternate with arroz con leche for once!
7. Olla de carne
Olla de carne is proper Costa Rican comfort food. It’s a meat stew that’s cooked slowly for a long time, together with plenty of vegetables. Corn, taro, sweet potato and plantain (there it is again) give the stew a sweet touch. If you have a good olla de carne in front of you, the meat practically melts on your tongue. Did you know that many Costa Ricans eat this several times a week?
8. Picadillo de papa
Costa Ricans may be crazy about rice, but not everything is built around the white grain. Take picadillo de papa. Here, the potato is the star of the show. It’s a lunch dish made with finely chopped potatoes, meat and herbs mixed together. Delicious for lunch.
If you’re planning to go to Costa Rica, I really recommend trying traditional Costa Rican food. Especially in the sodas, it’s truly top notch. As a pasta addict, I went off the beaten track once and ordered a plate of spaghetti. It was dry, chewy and tasteless; it turned out to have been reheated in the microwave. Now, I’m not saying this is always the case in every soda, but if you choose local, you know for sure that it’s genuinely good.
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