Cooking In Costa Rica - How To Prepare Those Strange Fruits and Vegetables You Find At The Feria (Farmers Market)
- Dennis J. Easters
- Dennis@pldatenasrealty.com
- +506-8854-7721
Topping my list of favorite things about living in Costa Rica is the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables that are available all year round. Everything grows to Jurassic proportions in this tiny Central American country. In most instances, the produce you purchase in Costa Rica has been grown within a 20-mile radius of where you’re making the purchase. In recent years, organically grown produce and artisanal products have become commonplace either at your local grocery store or farmers market, aka feria de agricultural, in Spanish.
When clients, friends, or family members come to visit Atenas, one of the first “must-sees” that we recommend to them is the local Feria de Agricultural. Every Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, local vendors set up at the Feria de Agricultura in Atenas. These vendors offer an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, fresh meats, homemade cheese, yogurt, sour cream, baked goods, herbs, flowers, plants and homemade goods to sell at reasonable prices.
After spending the morning at the feria, many people who are not familiar with our local produce are left perplexed, wondering what many of these items are called and how they can use them. A variety of things are easily adapted to our typical North American recipes and can be substituted for produce that we are familiar with back home. Other items are not as flexible, but are delicious if you know how to prepare them using a local recipe.
Part of the joy when visiting or living in a new country is immersing oneself in the culinary delights that make that place unique. Food is a major part of the cultural experience and, in my opinion, one of the most enjoyable. Below, I’ve compiled a list of
the more unique fruits and vegetables that you’ll encounter in Costa Rica that most North Americans and Europeans are not accustomed to finding or cooking with back home. Furthermore, I have added a few of my favorite recipes that take advantage of these unique products. I hope that by sharing these delights with you, it will add to the joy of your cultural and culinary experience.
Vegetables
• Chayote – Squash family• Camote – White Sweet Potato
• Ayote (young/mature) – Pumpkin/Squash
• Ñampi/Tiquisque- Tubers/root vegetable
• Yucca – Cassava/root vegetable
• Plantanos (green/ripe) – Plantains, cooking bananas
Fruits
• Cas – Sour Guava
• Guanabana – Sour Sop
• Carambola – Star Fruit
• Guava – Guava
• Mamey/Zapote – Mamey
Vegetables
Chayote
Chayote is a member of the squash family and is extremely versatile. There are several varieties of this vegetable, but I use either the medium-sized light green or the larger dark green varieties for most of my cooking. The large white variety is also wonderful when you use it to make a local dish called chancletas.
Chancletas or sandals are prepared just as you would prepare a twice-baked potato. There’s also a miniature variety of chayote which is typically boiled whole and served with a creamy mushroom sauce. When chayotes are fresh and tender, there’s no need to peel them. Otherwise, just peel, remove the seed, cube, or slice as you would an apple and boil them in salted water. Serve with a pat of butter.
Chayote is also used in soups and stews and is the star of picadillo de chayote. Because of its texture and mild flavor, chayote can be used to make a mock apple pie. The end result is that the taste is virtually the same. Lastly, chayote can be eaten raw, which adds a pleasant, crunchy texture to a green salad.
Camote
Camote is a white sweet potato and can be prepared and eaten in the same way as the North American sweet potato or yam. Be aware, this variety is more starchy than a traditional yam or sweet potato from the North. In Costa Rica, camotes are used in soups and can be mashed to make a wonderful purée. When served mashed, I simply add a bit of milk, butter, and a few tablespoons of sugar to make a tasty side dish.
Camote can be used as a substitute for orange sweet potatoes in your favorite sweet potato casserole recipe. Just make sure to increase the amount of liquid in the recipe due to the extra starch. If you don’t, the casserole will be drier than normal.
Ayote
Ayotes are in the squash family and can be eaten tender or mature. When eaten tender, you can prepare them the same as you would a yellow summer or zucchini squash, eating the peelings and seeds. Costa Rican cooks prepare a tasty dish called Guieso de Ayote, which we enjoy as a side dish or on its own. Guieso is a simple stew that is made exactly like picadillo de chayote by substituting the ayote for the chayote, with the addition of cream at the end of the cooking process.
Meanwhile, mature (sazon) ayote is prepared and used in the same manner as you would use a pumpkin. Many housewives prepare a cream de ayote or cream soup like cream of pumpkin soup. Mature ayote can be candied by peeling, then cutting it up into large pieces and cooking it with water with cinnamon tapa dulce (molasses sugar). This makes for a sweet treat that is eaten as a dessert. Mature ayotes can be used as a substitute in any recipe calling for pumpkin, such as pumpkin pie.
Ñampi/Tiquisque
These tuber vegetables are almost exclusively used in soups, much in the same way you would use a potato. Both can be found in the famous Olla de Carne, the meat and vegetable stew of Costa Rica. Simply peel, then cut into halves or quarters depending on the size of the root, and add to your soup or stew. The next time you make beef stew, try adding a few of these new root vegetables to your recipe.
Yucca
Yucca is versatile, much like chayote. It is often either boiled and eaten in Cuban style with mojo (a garlic, lemon and olive oil sauce), parboiled then fried, prepared like french fries, or used in soups. Yucca can also be mashed and used like mashed potatoes in recipes such as Shepherd’s Pie.
Plantanos
Plantanos (plantains) are a staple in all Latin American kitchens. They are versatile and are used in a variety of ways. Offering many nutrients, they contain more potassium than a regular banana. Green plantains are used in soups or are made into chips by cutting them into 1 to 2-inch pieces, frying, mashing, then re-frying them in hot oil. Ripe plantains are fried as well to a sweet, caramelized perfection, making a great side dish called platanos maduros.
The key to a really sweet, ripe plantain is to wait until the plantain has turned COMPLETELY black before you cook with it. Here in Costa Rica, one of my favorite ways to eat ripe plantains is to bake them in milk and top them with cheese. Deliciosos!
Fruits
Cas
Cas is an acidic guava. It is exclusively used for juicing by blending the fruit with water to create a juice. Strain, add sugar, chill, and drink cold. It is very refreshing and is tangy, sweet and sour
\quality to the flavor. The juice also makes a great smoothie by adding the juice with some ice to the blender, blend and enjoy!
Guanabana
Guanabana is used almost exclusively as a juiced fruit. It can be eaten fresh, but the pulp is very fibrous, so be cautious when eating it as it can easily get lodged in your throat, causing you to choke when eating it. To prepare, cut the guanabana into quarters and scoop out the pulp, eliminating the seeds. Blend in a blender with either water or milk. Add sugar to taste. Serve cold or blended with ice to make a refreshing slushy.
Carambola
In Costa Rica, carambola is used as a juice fruit. Simply chop, add to a blender with some water, strain, then add sugar and drink. The fruit can be eaten freshly and is used as a garnish in salads by slicing into rounds that form a beautiful yellow-shaped star, hence the nickname, starfruit.
Guava
Guavas are very common in tropical climates. There are white, pink and red-fleshed varieties, all having many little hard, but edible seeds inside. You can eat the fruit fresh or use it to make juice. Another common use for guava is for making jam or preserves. The aroma wafting from my grandmother’s kitchen while she was making homemade guava jelly is a memory I’ll never forget. There are also a wide variety of desserts that you can make with guavas, including substituting guava shells for other fruits in your favorite cobbler recipe. Guava shells are the meat or pulp of the fruit. You must peel the fruit, cut them in half and use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds. The meat that is left is the “shell”. You can boil the skins and seeds to make stock for guava jelly.
Recipes
Picadillo de Chayote
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped into small cubes
• 1 cup of fresh corn
• 5 large chayotes peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
• 1 lb. of ground pork meat or chorizo
• 2 tbs of olive oil
• 3–4 sprigs of cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 Tbs of Salsa Lizano (Costa Rican specialty sauce)
• 1 cup of water (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
Chop all the vegetables. In an 8-quart stock pot, sauté the onion, bell pepper, corn and carrot in the olive oil, cooking until the onions are transparent. Add the sausage and garlic, cooking until the sausage is completely cooked. Add the Salsa Lizano, salt, pepper, and chayote. Cover and cook over low heat until tender, about thirty minutes. Add water as needed. During the last 5 minutes of cooking time, add the cilantro. Serve with white rice. This makes a great side dish or a one-pot meal!
Baked Sweet Plantains with Cheese
• 4-5 large, ripe (BLACK) plantains
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of grated white cheese such as Turrialba or Mozzarella
Take your ripe plantains and gently massage them before you remove the peeling. Remove the peeling and cut them 1/2 length wise without going all the way through, much like a hot dog bun is cut. Place the plantains in a 9×9 baking dish. Smear the insides of the plantains with butter and pour the milk over them. Cover with plastic wrap, leaving one corner uncovered. Cook in the microwave for 15 minutes on high. Remove from the microwave, discard plastic wrap, and sprinkle the plantains with sugar and top with grated cheese. If the milk has been completely absorbed into the plantains, add another 1/2 cup of milk. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20–30 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.
Guava Cobbler
• 1 cup of self-rising flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of guava shells*
• 1/2 stick of butter
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and milk until it forms a batter. In a 9×9 baking dish, melt the butter and add the fruit. Pour the batter over the butter and fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for 45–50 minutes or until completely done. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a large cobbler.
*If using fresh fruit, parboil the fruit in one cup of sugar water for 5 minutes and add the fruit and sugar water to the cobbler. Doing this will make a very moist and delicious cobbler! Note that canned guava shells can often be found in your local grocery store. When using canned shells, use the entire contents of the can, liquid and all.
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+506-8854-7721
Dennis@pldatenasrealty.com
