COSTA RICA-2a. Parte.

We continue in Costa Rica, gathering some ideas not just for humans…

Happy jumping Alaskan Salmon-Quiche.
This was spectacular and we did not have to go to Alaska to enjoy it, although I would go in a heart bit. Megon cooked this wonderful and economical meal for an evening full of good things… We made the mistake of bringing to the table some bread as an appetizer, totally unnecessary; the quiche was enough and more than enough. She shared with us her recipe and it is basically smoked can salmon, spinach, onions, cheese, milk and salt. It cost her about $5 dollars and the four of us ate 2 pieces each, well served. As usual, I kept a piece of mine for the next day, Brian obviously jealous about my decision got to enjoy Deya’s leftovers the next day…

Shitz’ pot.
Pets are not like family in Costa Rica, it hurts to see this. It hurts even more to see that they only eat once a week in a lot of cases. Why would anybody want an animal, especially a cat, if the animal is going to be ignored? Yes, I understand Costa Rica is wild and that there are lots of things to be eaten in the jungle but cooking for someone or “something” carries a lot of love…
Shitz’ pot is made with a bag of small chicken parts (770 Colones = $1.54 dollars) and some rice (maybe 100 Colones = $0.2 dollars). The parts are boiled with the rice and Shitz has food for a week. How hard can that be? I mean, Brian was insisting that I should keep some of that pot for him and I had to convince him that he gets more than just Shitz’ pot…
I really like and enjoy Shitz, I would take her with me but unfortunately I don’t think cats travel very well on a motorcycle.

Pejibaye.
Mireya and Eli, our friend’s parents, have been very helpful with us and we have learned from them a lot about Costa Rican food. Here we have a pejibaye, which is a relative of the coconut, is one of Costa Rica's most unusual treats. Pejibayes grow in clusters on palm trees, like miniature coconuts. The part that you eat would correspond to the fibrous husk, while the hard pejibaye seed, when cracked open, reveals a thin layer of bitter white meat around a hollow core. The bright orange or red pejibayes are delicious boiled in salted water, then peeled, halved and pitted and eaten alone or with mayonnaise. Their flavour is difficult to describe, they are not sweet, but more a combination of chestnut and pumpkin with a thick, fibrous texture. I really liked them. They can be purchased at markets or taken from the farm (our case); if purchased they cost between 1000-1500 Colones/kilogram, if cut from the farm then you just need to go out to the back of the farm and find an old grown palmito tree and take some pejibayes.

Palmito tree, pejibayes at top.

Mamón criollo.
This bitter-sweet fruit is kind of weird. I could not find a lot of information about it, I can only tell you that I liked tasting it but I will not buy it in the future. Good experience!!!

Fried yuca chips.
Yuca, which I introduced you to in the last report, can be used to make fried chips; the only difference is that you have to cut round chips because the fibres of yuca are quite hard in its longest side, therefore regular fried chips are not an option. Once you fry them you can add some Tajin (lemon zest) or simply a little bit of salt. Delicious and economical: 350 Colones for a kilogram of yuca.

Pura Vida drink.
This is the typical Costa Rican drink. It is made with a liquor called Cacique (aguardiente), another liquor (melocoton), orange and pineapple juice and syrup. We paid a little too much for this, but we were having our first vacation in our first year of travels. At Baldi Hot Springs we paid $9 American dollars. Crazy eh!

Tom’s Pan German Bakery, Nuevo Arenal.

Brian and Deya are known for liking food and riding anywhere just to try a new item; I know one thousand kilometres are nothing but we will ride that amount of kilometres just to try a piece of pie…
This time we went by a German Bakery but it was raining really hard and getting dark, we were in our way to our friends’ farm and could not take the time to stop because we still needed to find “the place”.
For two weeks we can only think about this bakery and finally we made the decision to go back and find it. I am glad we did because going for 180 kilometres was a breeze and what we got there was unique. I have to say that Costa Rica does not lack of anything but good food. This German Bakery is awesome. We tried couple of items: Bratwurst sandwich, plate of specialty cheeses and meats, bread, baked goods… but there is more… Prices are reasonable and the owner, Tom, is a very interesting fellow and an expert on his field.
www.tomspan.com

Brian making bread with Tom? Yes...

Moya’s, Nuevo Arenal.
We found some amazing pizza in Nuevo Arenal, I can say the best pizza we have ever had. This place, Moya’s, is owned by a Costa Rican who worked somewhere else making Italian pizza and came back to his town to give back to the community. A pizza is 5000 Colones and enough for two people. They have a good selection: Pizza Mayan Blanca (grilled chicken in a creamy white sauce with asparagus and mushrooms), Canadiense (Canadian, I can’t imagine what goes in it), Escupe Fuego (I imagine this one is spicy since the name means Spit Fire), Chismosa (Gossiper), etc.

Happy Brian!!!

COSTA RICA-1era. Parte.

Finally we feel we are in a civilized country, I may say… Dani invited us some beers: Imperial made in Costa Rica now. Pretty good, although I don’t know the price yet. I do know that 1 Canadian dollar = 500 Colones.

Gallo Pinto.
This is the best Costa Rican typical dish; it is basically a mix of rice with beans and usually fried plantains on top with sour cream. Cooking it is cheap and you can add any spices you want; typically Costa Ricans add cilantro (or culantro is called here), onion, garlic, soy sauce. Beans are easy to boil if you are at a place where there is a real stove, boiling beans in our little stove is not a choice, but there are always cans of beans at any grocery store.
A pot of Gallo Pinto for 7 people costs around 1000 Colones = $2 dollars…

Alaskan buddies’ dinner…
Alaskans in Costa Rica, yes… and I am sure I did not impress them with this simple dish but I am going to publish it more for the enjoyment we had than the actual recipe, the enjoyment of sharing with great people.
This is basically rice cooked with some veggies: broccoli and cauliflower in a rice cooker. A little piece of already marinated chicken made for a good side. The mango salad was the best for me, although too spicy for Megon… sorry!!! The mango salad is really simple: mangoes, cilantro, tomatoes, avocados, onion, spicy peppers, lemon juice, salt to taste and there we go… Let me tell you, Costa Rica has great fruit and lemons… I love them.

A casado… married? Nope… It is a dish…
For 2800 Colones = $5.6 dollars you can get a super meal that can feed 2 people. We had this great meal at Restaurante La Diligencia in Rio Frio Sarapiqui in Costa Rica. This is Seoni’s favourite restaurant in the area. Yes, Seoni… a great friend who is hosting us at her family’s farm down here. I recommend a casado anytime. Ours had chicken for meat but you can pick from a series of main dishes and as you can see in the picture you will get rice, beans, salad and a boiled plantain… and a big jug of juice…

Mireya’s heart of palm…
Heart of palm, also called palm heart, palmito, burglar's thigh, chonta, palm cabbage or swamp cabbage, is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees. Costa Rica produces a lot of this delicious item. It is costly because harvesting in the wild kills the tree. Heart of palm is often eaten in a salad, sometimes called the "millionaire's salad." But it is also eaten with eggs or fried in many ways. Mireya made a great Costa Rican dish with palmito; she fried some onion and cilantro, added diced palmito, seasoning (chicken broth) and eggs. A big pot for 7 people costs 2000 Colones = $4 dollars. Great deal even though palmito is expensive.

A la putica… que picoso…
This is Eli’s favourite phrase: “A la putica”, I will let you find out what this means. Eli knows how to grow food, imagine that… a lot of us are ignorant about it but he is not and taught us a lot about the land where he grows his own food with passion and dedication…
He produces these amazing mix of three different peppers with vinegar of Guineo (type of banana); vinegar of Guineo is produced when bananas are pealed and put in bags to ferment, the liquid is then collected and used to marinate the peppers… A medium size bottle of this mix costs around 600 Colones = $1.2 dollars… And Eli will make one for us to take… Love it!!!

Aquí solo mis chicharrones truenan…
Another dish that only Eli knows how to prepare. Here it is a Costa Rican man who knows how to survive and survive well, one to invite if you are going camping.
Chicharrones in Mexico are pieces of fried skin pork but here it is any piece of the pork well fried and crispy. He just used cilantro, garlic and oil to season this tasty pork… With about 6000 Colones = $12 dollars you can feed 7 people with this typical dish…
A bit greasy therefore no pictures were taken, could not get my camera out… besides I can only lick my fingers and could not stop digging into the pot…


Fresco…
Fresco is any drink in Costa Rica that uses fruit, water and a bit of sugar. You can combine simply lemon juice with water, or blend couple of mangos with water… and some sugar if necessary, place it the fridge and take the jug out when lunch is ready. My favourite so far is “fresco de limon”. One lemon is 30 Colones = $0.06 dollars.

Other discoveries at the farm…
We found yuca, which is known as Cassava, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava. Cassava is the third-largest source of carbohydrates for meals in the world. It is classified as sweet or bitter, depending on the level of toxic cyanogenic glucosides; improper preparation of bitter cassava causes a disease called konzo. Nevertheless, farmers often prefer the bitter varieties because they deter pests, animals, and thieves. This can be simply boiled or fried… I really liked it especially since we get it fresh, here at Luis’ and Seoni’s farm…

We also found Guanabana, known as Soursop. Its flavor has been described as a combination of strawberry and pineapple with sour citrus flavor notes contrasting with an underlying creamy flavor reminiscent of coconut or banana. The price of this fruit is 1000 Colones/kilogram… about $2 dollars/kilogram… really tasty.

HONDURAS & NICARAGUA.

We basically went through these two countries fast. You may wonder why, easy… Tired of being chased by criminals and finding fake police. However, we had to spend a night in Honduras and a night in Nicaragua and found couple of things we can add to the Road Sandwich.

Beer is always a great meal or a great part of the meal. Honduras produces beer “Imperial”, tasty and refreshing, especially after a long day of riding and BS. The price is $30 Lempiras which is equivalent to about $1.57 Canadian dollars. 1 Canadian dollar = 19-20 Lempiras.

We also had a meal way out of our budget but at that time at night and under the circumstances we were, we had to find a safe place. The good thing is that we had great company… Dani… thanks so much for the days spent with us…
This meal cost us 150 Lempiras and supposed to be a typical meal… we shared one and it was not fantastic but was good.

Nicaragua’s beer was deserved: Victoria. We saved some money from those stops where we were asked to “pay” fees to fake police. There is an easy way to avoid this and it is by not breaking any rules and knowing what should and should not be paid for, if there is not receipt is probably wrong…
30 Cordobas per beer, equivalent to about $1.3 Canadian dollars. 1 Canadian dollar = 22-23 Cordobas.

EL SALVADOR.

Again, after an exhaustive day the first thing we found is beer, “Regia” beer. Tastes fine and it is pretty inexpensive. Let me tell you, in El Salvador they use American dollars as currency since 2001. So a six pack costs $3.9 USD.

Second thing we found really delicious and inexpensive was “Pupusas”. Its name comes from the Nahuatl “Pupushahua” which means stuffed tortilla. This is the Salvadorian dish par excellence. These are corn or rice tortillas stuffed with pork, beans, cheese, chicken, etc. They are served with a special pickled cabbage on the side and a tomato-based sauce. They are so popular that you can find them anywhere at any time. You can have a pupusa for $0.40-$0.75 USD. Accompany this with a milk shake of real frozen fruit for $1 USD each shake.

We also found cookies and bread, the sweats… those sweats. It will take me two days riding to get rid of the unnecessary stuff. A bag of cookies can be found for $1-$1.5 USD, but they are so delicious and well made. You can get 6 pieces of delicious bread for $1 USD.

A Mexican torta can be found here for $3 USD… Delicious with pastor meat and hot sauce. Brian’s favourite dish so far.

GUATEMALA.

We are excited about trying what Guatemala produces and as long as they have hot peppers we should be ok. Hot peppers keep us from getting sick.

First thing we found is beer, “Gallo” beer. Tastes more like a low profile American beer but it will do… It is also expensive in comparison to Mexico of course. A “Gallo” beer (small can) goes from 8-9 Quetzales, 7 Quetzales = 1 Canadian dollar or 1 Quetzal = 1.55 Mexican pesos, that sucks!!! I never thought Mexican Money would be worth less than Guatemalan Money. Oh well, it is what it is… And of course at the border you get a lower exchange rate that you could at a proper exchange place.

Second thing we found very peculiar is tortillas. Tortillas are very small and thick and the “Tortillerías” are places where people make tortillas by hand rather than machines. You can buy 5 tortillas for 1 Quetzal.

We made some “molletes” which is basically a bolillo with beans, cheese on top and pico de gallo (in this case without cilantro). Bolillos in Guatemala are called “pirujos” which in Mexico this word means male prostitute. Pirujos go from 0.5-1 Quetzales.

We had a typical Guatemalan breakfast, it was awesome!!! For 24 Quetzales we got: fruit, beans, cheese, eggs and chapin coffee. Chapin coffee is a watered down coffee and if you want to upgrade for a real coffee you have to pay extra, sorry I did not ask how much extra but I did not care because we wanted to try what Guatemalans normally consume. The owner of the restaurant is German and let me tell you, there are lots of Europeans down here, I can see why… Guatemala is very pretty!!!

We cooked some tortas con huevo (tortas with eggs) and used up all the little bits we had.
Ingredients:
Pirujos
Boiled eggs
Chiapas cheese
Tomatoe
Avocado
Onion
Hot sauce

Preparation:
1) Add the Chiapas cheese to the pirujo and then the eggs in slices.
2) Add some avocado, tomatoe and onion.
3) Add hot sauce of your preference and enjoy.

The treasures of Chiapas!!!

We found few fantastic things in Chiapas.

One of them is Tasajo, tasty meat served with rice and beans. It is simply cooked on the grill and even though it is a bit chewy it is different than anywhere in Mexico.

Chiapas cheese was the condiment that made a regular simple pasta one that you have to lick your fingers.

Coffee in Chiapas is awesome, I have to say AWESOME… Eduardo invited us a piece of 5 Chocolates cake… Thanks Eduardo…

Last dishes we really enjoyed here cooked by us, were a Canadian style treasure… We called it:

Speedy Mendoza.
Why? Because he was fast…

Ingredients:
Marinated pork ribs from Chiapas
Broccoli
Potatoes
Avocados
Onions
Oil
Tajin lemon zest
Salt

Preparation:
1) Panfry the marinated pork ribs.
2) Dice onions and add them to the pan where the pork ribs are cooking until brown, then remove and put them to the side.
3) Slice potatoes into fries, boil them lightly, drain excess water and fry. Once crispy season the fries with Tajin lemon zest and salt to taste. Add onions.
4) Blanch broccoli.
5) Serve pork ribs with broccoli, avocado and potatoes.
6) Enjoy with dreams of beer if you happen not to have one like us!!!

And,

Arroz Chiapaneco.
Why? Because we added Chiapas cheese…

Ingredients:
Chiapas cheese
Rice
Plantains
Tomatoes
Onion
Knorr chicken broth
Salt

Preparation:
1) Soak the rice overnight for easy cooking the next day.
2) Roast the rice until brown. Meanwhile blend 2 tomatoes with a Knorr square of chicken broth, a bit of onion and a little bit of water, put this aside.
3) Once the rice is brown add the tomatoe mix and salt to taste.
4) Let the tomatoe mix boil checking that the flame is low so it can cook the rice properly, until soft.
5) Now, cook the plantains as easy as cutting them in slices and frying them.
6) Once fry put them on top of the rice and add as much Chiapas cheese as you like…

Never thought!!!

Mangoes… mangos in Spanish…
Delicious mangoes you can eat in Mexico and we did. Diarrhea???, no way Jose.

Mojarra.
A type of fish found in the area of Veracruz. Brian was initially very happy about it but later on he got sick… Sorry Brian, I have the stomach of a donkey so could not understand why you got sick. It could very well be that the fish you ate was a bit angry!!!

Bloody meal…
Moronga, rellena, or morcilla is a sausage made of pig's blood. It is found in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Central America and Mexican cuisine. Spices, herbs (such as ruda, oregano, and mint), onions and chile peppers are added and then boiled in the pig's intestines for several hours. It is served in a sauce, either "chile rojo" or "chile verde". Considered a delicacy, it is also served in Mexico as a filling in gorditas after it has been pan-fried with fresh onions and jalapeño peppers.
I never thought that animal blood should be eaten, but I guess I should not think and just appreciate it… as long as nothing is wasted…