Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Food and Dining

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

Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Food and Dining

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Mary Erb

From the offset of the trip, one of the aspects of being in Costa Rica I most looked forward to was the exploration of food I thought I would partake in. I can’t really say I was worried, since I’ve always been fond of Hispanic food, but I still wasn’t sure what to wholly expect. One thing I heard before the trip was definitely proven right. Rice and beans were served at almost every meal. Being where I’m from, this was very novel to me, and being that I’m not a terribly picky eater I didn’t mind their inclusion on my plate. I think something my classmates and I commented on in the first few days was how fresh everything seemed. Something that was also regularly included in our meals was fruit, which as a fruit lover, was quite welcomed. Dining at home felt very similar to dining in the U.S. to me, the parents usually prepared the meals and they were eaten leisurely with one another.

Dining out was always a bit of a different experience depending on where you went. Some places had a large focus on American cuisine. Most places actually had menus that had entries in both Spanish and English. Almost every place we went to served some variation of rice, beans, plantains, salad, and beef or fish plate. A standard American option was a hamburger, which eventually me and a few others tasted and agreed it was different from what we were used to, although it was hard to pinpoint exactly how. One difference was the lack of tipping there, something that felt unnatural due to our custom here.

ML@FLCC Costa Rica
2015 Flickr Gallery

I know that for many people who travel, there are usually a few food items that stand out, and two things come to mind for me in Costa Rica. Firstly, one of the places we spotted there on the first day and saved to memory was called Space Pizza, which had abnormally large looking pizza slices. We eventually made our way there, and delighted in the large portion which I was never able to finish. The item that really comes to mind that might seem minor or trivial was a small coconut popsicle we were given after lunch one day. It was shockingly good to me, and as soon as I got home I researched recipes. I will also try my hand at empanadas soon. All in all, dining there was both eclectic, and simple.

Mary Erb
LEAF Contributor