Delicioso

I have to say, one thing that my mom always does in restaurants that embarrasses me is take pictures of everything my family ordered. Not that I think there is anything wrong with doing it, my mom just does it a little too dramatically and everyone in the restaurant always looks over because of all the commotion it makes. She has to get the good angle, the good light, and of course, she has to get a picture of us in front of our plate. Although I always scold my mom for doing this in restaurants, I found myself doing the exact same thing while in Costa Rica. Now, there were thousands of things I absolutely loved about Costa Rica, and most of them I really miss. However, If you ask me what I miss most, without even thinking I would say food. To characterize the food there, it is important to know that Costa Rica has a healthy diet overall, with most dishes involving rice and beans, and many other fruits or vegetables.

To say I was spoiled with good food during my time there is a major understatement. I still vividly remember most of the things that I tasted there; the smell, the taste, the texture, all of it. Yep, it was that good (or maybe I am just deprived of good quality food normally). Every time my mama tica (what I called my host mom) would bring my plate with whatever we were eating for that meal, I would take a picture. That is right, I have a picture of every single dish I ate in that house, apple didn’t fall far from the tree there. However, I was definitely validated for doing so as the food was so fresh and nice to look at. My favorite food I ate there was not anything fancy, it is a dish called “gallo pinto”. It is just beans and rice with some spices in it but it was absolutely delicious. It was served for every meal as a matter of fact, even breakfast.

Not only was I blessed to be able to enjoy my Mama Tica’s amazing cooking, but I also had all the local restaurants to explore. I will admit though, I did embarrass myself really badly at a restaurant one time. I was ordering a sandwich at a local restaurant and I wanted to add onion to my sandwich. The word for onion in spanish is “cebolla” but when I went to ask, I said “caballo” on accident which means horse, and the young woman taking my order stopped mid pencil stroke and stared at me. With a concerned and confused look, she said what translates to “we don’t do that here.” I eventually realized what I said, corrected myself, ate my food, and left as quickly as possible. If I am being honest, I do not really remember what was in the rest of that sandwich, I just remember the onion, not surprisingly.

I highly recommend checking out some traditional Costa Rica dishes, they are definitely worth a try!