Costa Rica Cuisine

During my trip in Costa Rica, I have been trying all sorts of different meals from traditional dinners to Starbucks. I originally live in Northern California, but I am now studying abroad for three months in beautiful Costa Rica to experience the real raw culture and traditional ways of life. Through eating from our chief at the base house who cooks traditional common meals and going to town and eating at a restaurant, I have seen a difference between the two. For instance, our chief and his wife come over and give us three meals a day. Those meals consist of hamburgers with ham in them, chicken, and fish. While going into town, you can get almost anything from ice cream to Chinese food. With this in mind, I will be talking about the differences between these two but also their uniqueness and what they add to this culture.

A majorly common meal here in Costa Rica is rice and beans with a side of assorted fruits like watermelon and pineapple. this is a simple meal it's delicious. The fruits here are so much better than anything I've had back home. Most of the fruits and vegetables are locally grown as well. At my home base here in Costa Rica, we have a wonderful garden full of all different kinds of vegetables that we use for our own salads in every meal. Vegetables like kale, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, etc! Knowing and having such fresh fruits and vegetables makes the salads taste so and I feel healthy and ready for my day afterwards.

Going into town was such a treat as well! Me and my classmates have visited plenty of restaurants around the local town our Base House is close to. It's there that we saw more of the culture and witness the differences between what we had with our chief and what was offered at restaurants. There were restaurants that can be considered fancy. Most restaurants or places to eat out reminded me more of a buffet or deli. There were no doors most of the time, a giant garage-styled fence which is up during opening hours. Then the food is displayed behind glass or hard plastic-like at a deli. It becomes different when in the city though, in San Jose, it looks like any other city I've seen in the United States and has a lot of popular food industries such as Starbucks, McDonalds, and taco bell. There are also malls and tattoo shops. I remember the time and my classmates didn't know y of this before entering San Jose, we all planned to go to a Starbucks because e saw one on the way when on the bud ride. I was mesmerized by how modernized the city was and how beautiful . As we became close to our destination we passed the Taco bell and then right next to ti was McDonald. I was stunned by how food culture has been into a place like Costa Rica. Even more incredible was when I got a Chicken ( ) that looked like nothing I've seen in the United States. The chicken sandwich looked so fresh and crispy. so good and I still felt as healthy afterward. The food is also much cheaper and worth every penny.

All in all, the food here in Costa Rica is ! I can't wait to see what the next months brings and what adventures in food and culture I'll be able to experience.