Aero: Marriah Gough – Costa Rica 2015 – Food and Dining

Aero: Marriah Gough – Costa Rica 2015 – Food and Dining
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Aero: Marriah Gough – Costa Rica 2015 – Food and Dining

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Marriah Gough

Before leaving for Costa Rica, I couldn’t help but be a bit worried about how well I was going to eat, and what types of food I would be encountered with each day. All my life I have been the pickiest eater, and usually am not up for trying new things; I like simple and plain. With that being said, why the heck am I traveling across the world if I don’t like to try new things? Something just snapped this time, and I wanted to push outside of my comfort zone and break the barrier and accept different. Before leaving, what I had in mind for food was that I would be eating a lot of beans, rice, and spicy foods. Now that the trip is over, I can truly say that that was a true beginning idea; there was certainly a lot of beans and rice. Back home, I do not usually eat three meals a day, and breakfast was not my number one meal. I very rarely eat breakfast back home. While in Costa Rica, each day we had breakfast. Breakfast mainly consisted of a form of a milkshake made from Nesquik powder water and ice, strawberry or chocolate and sometimes juice, but always coffee which of course was my favorite. We usually had empanadas for breakfast as well, but they were not the same each day. Sometimes we had meat inside like bologna, other times it was just beans, and others just cheese which was my favorite. We also usually were offered toast and jam to have with the empanadas, as well as a form of fruit; cut up bananas or plantains and scrambled eggs. Living with my host family I was able to try many new things which I am surprised of myself. When we ate lunch, a majority of the time lunch was on the road because we were out and about most of the day for our trip.

ML@FLCC Costa Rica
2015 Flickr Gallery

When eating at restaurants, menus seemed to consist mainly of Spanish food, in particular the most known dish the Casado. The Casado contained one meat or your choice; pork, fish, steak or beef, as well as one large scoop of white rice in the center of the plate, and cooked vegetables on the side. It was certainly a filling dish. Usually if we ordered the Casados, I ordered the chicken or steak, and ate that as well as the rice, I never really ate the vegetables, just like at home. All of the food here in Costa Rica was all natural. The fruit was the best. Everything was fresh and naturally grown, as well as all the meats. Back home, places like McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell are a go to every once and a while for some fattening, greasy food. In Costa Rica however, that is a bit different. The meat in Costa Rica is all natural and does not contain any growth hormones or fat to it, making the taste have fewer flavors and fattening that we all crave here in the U.S. I had the chance to try Taco Bell which tasted the same as home, but the burgers were certainly different. It was like eating the cheap store brand burgers. When using the condiments, even the Ketchup was different than back home; it had a much sweeter taste to it, but it still did its job! When ordering, I usually order soda when I go out to eat at restaurants, and usually I get what is referred to as Coke in the States. Well, every time I tried to order a Coke at one of the restaurants, I always said Coke out of habit, but in Costa Rica it is actually referred to as Coca so I messed it up every time. When it was time for dinner, my host family always asked us if we were hungry around five or six o’clock each night and made food right away. Again, we always had a meat, fruit, our milkshakes, and a little snack afterwards like trail mix or tangerines. The first few days we were there we had what would be considered dinner here around five o clock, but then about eight, she offered us another meal or took us out for pizza. It was a lot of food, but I was glad to have a variety. Overall, I was able to try a variety of new foods while on the trip, but I can honestly say that I am still not a fan of Spanish food, and don’t think I have eaten so much chicken and rice the entire twenty one years of my life.

Marriah Gough
LEAF Contributor