Breakfast in Costa Rica

Or How I Learned to Love Gallo Pinto.

Costa Ricans eat the same meal three times a day, so despite the fact that I forgot to take pictures at breakfast, these pictures from lunch are quite representative. Gallo pinto is beans (usually kidney or another red bean) and rice. The rice is cooked with onions, peppers and other aromatics and served next to savory beans. If you are really hungry, you can order casados. Casados means married in Spanish and I heard the term translated (in relation to food) as "homemade" or "like a married man would eat."



This is Casados con Pollo Super Deluxe. Under the freshly made tortillas is a fried egg on top of a slab of cheese. Under the egg and cheese is a grilled plantain and the gallo pinto. Also on the plate are a cold sweet potato hash, random no flavor mayonnaise pasta salad, tomato wedges, and very savory chicken. I couldn't eat half of the casados because we had also ordered maduros con queso; caramelized, ripe plantains (sweeter than the ones with the casados) covered in queso fresco. Now, I know you are thinking, "caramelized bananas, yes." "Caramelized bananas with cheese, hell no." But how wrong you are. Think Bananas Foster only with slightly more savory ice cream (ok, that doesn't sound much better, maybe you have to trust me on this one).



As hard as this is to admit, the best coffee we had in Costa Rica was at the gringo owned bed and breakfast we stayed at. I can only pray that the coffee they kept stored in the Starbucks jar on the counter was a local variety. On the days when we had breakfast at the B & B we were served a North American style breakfast of eggs, french toast, pancakes or waffles, bacon, and decidedly tropical fruit.