Aero: Stephanie Strassner – Costa Rica 2013 – Food and Dining
Aero: Stephanie Strassner – Costa Rica 2013 – Food and Dining
Aero: Stephanie Strassner – Costa Rica 2013 – Food and Dining
The food in Costa Rica is different from anything I would normally eat at home on a regular basis. Rice and beans. There was always rice and beans. I’ll be honest and say that it is not my favorite thing to eat but rice and beans play a huge role in typical, daily Costa Rican meals. I became ok with the different rice and bean dishes because that was part of the experience of really immersing myself in their culture. Experiencing the food was another aspect of Costa Rica that I really wanted to fully experience, and during my time here I believe that I was exposed to many different typical dishes.
Day one, for breakfast we were given this typical dish, something I have never heard of. It was like this rice and potato and vegetable mix wrapped in a leaf. Both my roommate and I were unsure what to think of the dish. We learned from our host mom, however, that what we were eating is something that Costa Ricans might eat for breakfast on special occasions. It was definitely different, but I looked at it as a sign of being welcomed into their home, that this was like a special occasion. Overall, regardless of how I thought the different food tasted, whether I liked all of it or not, I was really glad that I had the opportunity to try so many different meals and dishes. The one thing I promised myself is that I was going to try everything, and I did. This allowed me to really feel a part of this culture; and again, that was one of my goals for coming on this trip.
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Something I noticed about the food, at least in my host home, was that everything was prepared fresh. For breakfast and for dinner all of the food was fresh. The fruits were fresh the bread was fresh, even the pasta we had was made fresh. There were always fruits and vegetables on the counter and they were always served with every meal. I know back home it is so easy to grab something out of the freezer and throw it in the microwave. Sometimes nutrition even takes a backseat when we are in a hurry or in a time crunch. Not in my host home, though. Every meal we were always served some sort of fruit and vegetable along with our main dish. When our three year old host sister would get mad because she did not want to eat her fruits or vegetables, her parents always emphasized the importance of them. I definitely noticed that I live a much faster paced life in Rochester than people do in Costa Rica, which accounts for a lot of the quick and easy meals.
We did not always eat in out host homes, for some meals we went out to eat at restaurants. One thing I noticed about some restaurants is that some of the menus were in both Spanish and English. This made me think about how many people must visit Costa Rica who speak English that they would start having both languages on menus. As for the food, most of the places the food consisted of very typical Costa Rican meals. There were a few that offered a cheeseburger and fries and one even offered chicken nuggets; some of us ordered them just to compare them to home, and we could definitely taste the difference. The food was good though. Although tipping the waiters is not a common thing in Costa Rica. This was different because back home we always tip the person who served us, but in Costa Rica that was not the case. Many of the restaurants were even decorated with bright colors and were very open; I don’t always see that at home. One restaurant there was an iguana walking around by our table, can’t say I have ever seen that at home either.
– Stephanie Strassner
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