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| A.M.
Costa Rica: Food and good eating More recipes are HERE |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 25 |
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Go to Page 3 HERE! Go to Page 4 HERE! |
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| Former Lindora restaurant operator now serves Indian cuisine |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A restaurateur who used to operate an outlet in Lindora, Santa Ana, has opened Taste of India in San Jose's downtown. The restaurant is on the south side of Avenida Primera between calles 11 and 9. The operator is Abdul Malik Shamsuddin. The furnishing are modest, but the food is not. The owner is quick to greet customers as they enter the long, narrow former retail store. He will explain the types of dishes, including the several selections of curry. Of course, diners can determine how hot their food should be. A treat is the vegetable samosa, two for 2,000 colons or about $4. They also come containing chicken. The content is surrounded by a triangular pastry. The tamarindo sauce goes well with both types. The owner said that he has applied for a beer and wine license and suggested that some of the food would benefit from accompaniment by wine. Naturally the restaurant serves naan bread, both plain and with garlic and butter. This is a Middle Eastern standard, a baked flatbread. They look like small pizza shells or a pita without |
the pockets. The
price is just 1,400 colons each or about $3. The main course can be chicken tikka masala for 6,500 colons or about $13. This is the well-known chicken in a spicy sauce. This curry dish is a standard even in Britain. The aloo gobi for 5,500 colons is a vegetarian mixture of potatoes, cauliflower and, of course, curry and spices. The bill for two persons at Taste of India was 28,507 colons, including 5,300 colons for service and taxes. That's about $56 and includes tea, juice, a soda, extra basmati rice and dessert. The owner came to Costa Rica via Canada, so there is no language problem even for monolingual tourists. The waitress also is bilingual. Another development downtown is the demise of the News Cafe, the popular restaurant in the Hotel Presidente. The space in the northwest corner of the hotel on the pedestrian mall has been draped in black plastic because a cell telephone company will be moving in after construction. Unknown to most passersby is that the hotel now has a restaurant inside in the lobby. Gone is the panorama of Costa Rican daily life on the pedestrian mall, but there also is no beggar seeking money from diners. —Jan.
23, 2012
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| Hopes of importing beer made with hemp go
up in smoke |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Originallly
posted Jan. 4. 2012
Anyone who wants to drink hemp beer in Costa Rica will have to brew
their own. The Sala Primera, a branch of the Corte Suprema de Justicia,
has ruled again that such beer cannot be offered for sale in Costa Rica.Hemp beer is a specialty brew that is said to have a more creamy head than conventional beer. And hemp and hops, the usual beer ingredient, is said to be close relatives. Nevertheless, the Sala Primera magistrates rejected an appeal from the Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo, which also rejected the importation of the product. Originally the beer was rejected by the health ministry, the Ministerio de Salud, in 2008. Since then the case was in various courts. The Sala Primera originally rejected the beer, a Swiss product called Hanfblüte, which was going to be marketed here by a firm named Nikimar S.A. The Sala Primera originally rejected an appeal in March and then did so again late last year on a rehearing. The would-be importers argued that the law against drug products was so broad that it covered morphine, which is imported into the country. They also argued that the beer |
 could not be converted into marijuana. The beer has an alcohol content of 5.2 percent. Hanfblüte distributers have run into trouble in Europe when they advertised the beer with a marijuana leaf graphic. Marijuana is readily available in Costa Rica, and the Internet provides recipes for making hemp beer. |
| Marriage of pork, beans and rice was invented here as chifrijo |
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By
Zach McDonald
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Bar food, whether it´s fried, spicy or starchy, is a necessity with beer, friends and sporting events. This cultural fact is not lost in Costa Rica. The bars and restaurants have a litany of dishes to choose from, but one stands out because of its origins in the country. The chifrijo is a dish that has been around since the early 90s when it started being served in local bars and restaurants in and around San José. Shortly after the genesis of the chifrijo, the dish began to spread through Latin America and was registered by the dish's claimed creator Miguel Angel Araya Cordero, the owner of bars and restaurants. The term chifrijo was coined by Cordero and comes from the combination of two terms. Chicharrones, or fried pork rinds, and frijoles, which is basically what the dish is at the core. The combination of pork and beans is combined in a bowl with rice and then topped with diced onions, tomatoes, peppers and cilantro. After corn chips and a spritz of lime are added, the chifrijo is complete. There are subtle variations on the dish from bar to bar, but the chain of Cordero´s restaurants maintains the original can only be tasted at their locations. The price is from 800 colons ($1.60) to 1,300 colons (about $2.60) depending on the restaurnt and the size of the serving. To date, the chifrijo is the only
culinary invention in Costa Rica
to be patented in the Registro de la Propiedad, the bar owner
said.
— Dec. 13, 2011
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 A.M. Costa Rica/Zach McDonald
The chifrijo ready to eat. |
| One-night art exhibit is using food as the artists' medium |
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By
Shahrazad Encinias Vela
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Alliance Française is hosting a one-night-only food as art exhibit where the patrons can not only enjoy or critique the piece but also eat it. The exhibition is at the Casa del Cuño in the Antigua Aduana Thursday 7:30 p.m. The French cultural organization is not charging money but rather a small raw potato for cover charge in celebration of the exhibit “No entiendo ni papa.” This is where gastronomy meets art. Space is limited, available to the first 500 people. The Bon ArtPetite celebrates its fourth year with the Costa Rican saying “No entiendo ni papa.” This is slang for “I don't understand anything.” The art collective features six different artist groups, each with |
their own
proposal to interpret the theme using food. The artists were
chosen through a panel in August. There are six different art teams, in
total there are 10 artists participating in the food art creation. One group proposed to give a modern twist to Costa Rican folklore food, with this they intend to deceive the senses of the spectators. Another exhibitor is using meat as the object. And most artists are using the potato as their object. The exhibit first began in 2008, inspired by the movement “Eat art” from the 1960s. This is an aspect of art where food is the theme. The Antiqua Aduana is the refurbished brick former customs house on Calle 23 in east San José. —
Dec. 7, 2011
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| Food detectives use high tech to spot lesser-quality marzipan |
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By
the American Chemical Society News Service
With the December holidays a peak season for indulging in marzipan, scientists are reporting the development of a new test that can tell the difference between the real thing — a pricey but luscious paste made from ground almonds and sugar — and cheap fakes made from ground soy, peas and other ingredients. The report appears in the Aemrican Chemical society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Although primarily a European dish, marzipan can be found in Costa Rica. A bakery in Liberia adds the tasty paste to cakes, and others make marizapan in the home with almonds, sugar and a bit of vanilla. Ilka Haase and colleagues explained in the journal article that marzipan is a popular treat, especially at Christmas and New Year’s, when displays of marzipan sculpted into fruit, Santa and tree shapes pop up in stores. And cakes like marzipan stollen (a rich combo of raisins, nuts and cherries with a marzipan filling) are a holiday tradition. But the cost of almonds leads some unscrupulous manufacturers to use cheap substitutes like ground-up peach seeds, soybeans or peas. Current methods for detecting that trickery have drawbacks, allowing counterfeit marzipan to slip onto the market to unsuspecting consumers. To improve the detection of contaminants in marzipan, the researchers became food detectives and adapted a method called the polymerase chain |
 American Chemical Society photo
Stollen, a rich combo of
raisins, nuts and cherries with a marzipan
filling, is a holiday tradition with Germanic roots.reaction — the same test famed for use in crime scene investigations. They tested various marzipan concoctions with different amounts of apricot seeds, peach seeds, peas, beans, soy, lupine, chickpeas, cashews and pistachios. Polymerase chain reaction enabled researchers to easily finger the doctored pastes. They could even detect small amounts — as little as 0.1 percent — of an almond substitute. The researchers say that the polymerase chain reaction method could serve as a perfect tool for the routine screening of marzipan pastes for small amounts of contaminants. Some Costa Ricans do use other types of products to make marzipan, but they do so for the flavor. Pine nuts are used elsewhere. |
Costa Rican tamales come in pairs of two. A bottle of Bavaria Blue is an added treat. |
 A.M. Costa Rica/Zach McDonald
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| Costa Rica does not have a monopoly on
the tamal |
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By Shahrazad Encinias
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Originally
published Nov.18
As the end-of-the-year holidays approach, different countries begin to
prepare their comida tipica,
and for Central America the popular dish is the tamal.It is usually served as the main course for Christmas. A tamal is made out of masa from maize, stuffed with a piece of meat and wrapped in a leaf. In the United States, the better known tamale is the Mexican one, made with very thick masa or dough and wrapped in corn husk. In Central America, there is a slight difference in tamales with the Mexican ones. Tamales here usually are cooked in a plantain or banana leaf wrapping. There is no universal tamal among the seven countries in Central America. Each one has its own version of the traditional dish. The differences coincide with the size, the ingredients, the preparation and, of course, the taste. According to Flor de Monroy, master Costa Rican and Guatemalan cook, the hardest tamales to make are from Guatemala. The Costa Rican native also said that Guatemalan tamales are much tastier than the ones from her country. There are not any known Guatemalan restaurants in Costa Rica, so a spokesperson for the Guatemalan Embassy recommended Ms. De Monroy. She broke down the recipes on how to make the perfect Costa Rican tamal and Guatemalan tamal colorado, so called because of the red sauce ingredient. Costa Rica She said the plantain leaf and the masa can be purchased already made at various groceries and markets which make it easy to make a Costa Rican tamal. She said to lay the plantain leaf on a flat surface, grab a handful of masa and flatten it onto the leaf, then add a pinch of cooked rice and a garbanzo bean. Some people add an egg and an olive to the middle of the tamal. She said when the tamal is formed, the cook folds up the leaf with all the ingredients inside, ties it up tightly with string. Costa Ricans tie up the tamales in a piña, two-in-two, then boil them in a pot of hot water. Mrs. de Monroy said a cook has to make sure the tamales are tied up tightly, otherwise the masa will seep out into the water. The commercial pre-made ones purchased at a grocery have a decorative strand of carrot on top of the tamal. |
Commercial
production centers
on the town of Aserrí where completed
tamales are steamed over a wood fire. Later they are reheated by
purchasers just before eating, Purists reject the use of microwaves and
say that this can dry out the tamal. They use more boiling water. The Costa Rican tamal usually is accompanied by salsa lizano or another of the commercial, bottled sauces. Guatemala Unlike the simplicity of the Costa Rican tamal, the one from the Mayan country includes a lot more vegetables and spices. And the tamal has its own sauce. Guatemalans include the ingredients of pan frances (a local mini French bread) and a recado, the special sauce, to their tamal. But first, once the masa is made or purchased, it has to be soaked with rice, then stirred together. Finally the broth from the meat is added. The broth is not obligatory, but for a stronger taste, the cooked meat juice comes from either chicken or pork. The recado can't be bought, so it has to be made from scratch. The ingredients needed are cooked or grilled red tomatoes, miltomates (tiny green tomatoes), onion, chile dulce, chile pasa, chiles guaqueres, sesame seeds, pepitoria (a dark red spice), and a stick of cinnamon. All of these are mixed together in a blender until a red liquid is produced. Then the cook boils it. Some like to let pan frances, a small piece of bread unlike the long North American French loaf, soak in the sauce until it is soggy and then blend it into the sauce for a thicker recado. Once the masa and the recado are made, the time is ripe to create the tamal. The plantain leaf is placed on a flat surface, a handful of masa is flattened into a thick tortilla, a chunk of meat is placed in the middle of the masa, and the recado is drizzled onto the meat and the masa. Two slivers of red bell peppers are placed parallel along with an olive and a caper on the masa. Finally, the leaf is folded and tied up with twine, similar to a Christmas present. The single tamal is then boiled in a hot pot of water. These recipes are by Ms. De Monroy. She is married to a Guatemalan and learned how to cook Chapin or Guatemalan when she lived in the country for many years. |
| There is something magical about the union of rice and milk |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica food staff
Each Costa Rican consumes on average more than 100 pounds of rice each year, according to the country's rice commission, the Corporación Arrocera Nacional. One reason could be yummy arroz con leche. With arroz con leche, there is no reason to have rice leftovers because the first step is to cook some rice. Some sources suggest cooking the rice with water and milk. Others say the milk can be added later. Once there is a large pot of cooked rice, the grain begins the transformation from dietary staple to famous dessert. The Oryza News, which covers the rice market in the United States and the world suggests using short-grain rice as this gives the result a creamier texture. Oryza News suggests cooking the rice with milk, a cinnamon stick, an orange or lemon peel and a dash of salt at medium heat with frequent stirring. Once the rice is cooked and the mixture is removed from the heat, butter and vanilla are added with sugar to taste. Other cooks just dump the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, butter |
 Photo by Oryza News http://oryza.com
The finished product garnished with cinnamon
and even raisins into the cooked
rice and sugar to taste. Then they cook the mixture on low heat for 30
to 45 minutes.
Arroz con leche can be served warm or after being chilled in the refrigerator. |
| Effort
launched to define a unique Costa
Rican cuisine |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The French probably have nothing to worry about yet, but Costa Rica is launching its national plan of healthy and sustainable cuisine. The effort is a joint one among the Cámara Costarricense de Restaurantes y Afines, the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo, the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad and the Club de la Gastronomía Epicúrea. The organizations announced the plan Wednesday as part of the World Tourism Day celebration. The idea is to create a unique cuisine to strengthen the national identity and perhaps even create new businesses. Costa Rica basically is defined by gallo pinto, rice and beans. But the announcement suggested that there were a lot of food products here that could create a unique dish, such as risotto with flor de itabo or malanga chips. The Costa Rican embassy in France promotes the Costa Rican cuisine as based on corn, beans, pejibaye and palmito. The embassy Web page includes a little poem to guaro, the national alcoholic drink. But the proposal Wednesday is more complex and more creative. The organizations cited the work of Carlos Castrillo, executive chef of the Hotel Ramada Plaza Herradura. He |
put together a full
menu based on local products such as
the pejibaye palm nut and the níspero
or sapodilla fruit. The proposal is to rescue traditional foods and perhaps protect the flora and fauna of areas in risk of deforestation by suggesting alternate foods. In fact, the Ministerio de Cultura and Juventud has conducted regional contests seeking the best of the local cuisine. These dishes have been put into booklets. So the research already exists. The proposal also marks the 30th anniversary of the restaurant chamber. Manuel Burgos, president of the chamber, said that to put such a plan into action would require coordination with educational institutions. He said it was an ambitious, long-term project. Expats can experiment with products usually found at the local ferias. For example, malanga is a root crop. And flor de itabo is very seasonal. The white flowers of this yucca plant are collected each year, mostly by those in the country, to provide zest for their meals. One use is in scrambled eggs. But it also can be used in a salad. Although guaro is well known as a local version of sugar cane alcohol, the country also produces several types of coffee liquor as well as rum. So crepes de flor de itabo flambé would not be out of the question. |
| Scientists show how New World yeast created lager beer |
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By
the University of Wisconsin-Madison news service
In the 15th century, when Europeans first began moving people and goods across the Atlantic, a microscopic stowaway somehow made its way to the caves and monasteries of Bavaria. The stowaway, a yeast that may have been transported from a distant shore on a piece of wood or in the stomach of a fruit fly, was destined for great things. In the dank caves and monastery cellars where 15th century brewmeisters stored their product, the newly arrived yeast fused with a distant relative, the domesticated yeast used for millennia to make leavened bread and ferment wine and ale. The resulting hybrid — representing a marriage of species as evolutionarily separated as humans and chickens — would give the world lager, the clear, cold-fermented beer first brewed by 15th century Bavarians and that today is among the most popular — if not the most popular — alcoholic beverage in the world. And while scientists and brewers have long known that the yeast that gives beer the capacity to ferment at cold temperatures was a hybrid, only one player was known: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast used to make leavened bread and ferment wine and ale. Its partner, which conferred on beer the ability to ferment in the cold, remained a puzzle, as scientists were unable to find it among the 1,000 or so species of yeast known to science. Now, an international team of researchers believes it has identified the wild yeast that, in the age of sail, apparently traveled more than 7,000 miles to those Bavarian caves to make a fortuitous microbial match that today underpins the $250 billion a year lager beer industry. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Portugal, Argentina and the United States describe the discovery of a wild yeast in the beech forests of Patagonia, the alpine region at the tip of South America, that apparently solves the age-old mystery of the origin of the yeast that made cold-temperature fermentation and lager beer possible. “People have been hunting for this thing for decades,” explains Chris Todd Hittinger, a University of Wisconsin-Madison genetics professor and a co-author of the new study. “And now we’ve found it. It is clearly the missing species. The only thing we can’t say is if it also exists elsewhere (in the wild) and hasn’t been found.” Expanding the search to other parts of the world, however, finally paid dividends when collaborator Diego Libkind of the Institute for Biodiversity and Environment Research in Bariloche, Argentina, found in galls that infect beech trees a candidate species whose genetic material seemed to be a close match to the missing half of the lager yeast. “Beech galls are very rich in simple sugars. It’s a sugar rich habitat that yeast seem to love,” notes Hittinger. The yeast is so active in the galls, according to Libkind, that they spontaneously ferment. “When overmature, they fall all together to the floor where they often form a thick carpet that has an intense ethanol odor, most probably due to the hard work of our new Saccharomyces eubayanus.” The new yeast was hustled off to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where a team that included |
 University of Wisconsin-Madison/Barry
Carlsen
This
is route yeast is believed to have taken
 Institute for Biodiversity and Environment
Research,/ Diego Libkind
Orange-colored galls on a
Patagonian tree.Hittinger, Jim Dover and Mark Johnston sequenced its genome. “It proved to be distinct from every known wild species of yeast, but was 99.5 percent identical to the non-ale yeast portion of the lager genome,” says Hittinger. The Colorado team also identified genetic mutations in the lager yeast hybrid distinctive from the genome of the wild lager yeast. Those changes — taking place in a brewing environment where evolution can be amped up by the abundance of yeast — accumulated since those first immigrant yeasts melded with their ale cousins 500 years ago and have refined the lager yeast’s ability to metabolize sugar and malt and to produce sulfites, transforming an organism that evolved on beech trees into a lean, mean beer-making machine. “Our discovery suggests that hybridization instantaneously formed an imperfect proto-lager yeast that was more cold-tolerant than ale yeast and ideal for the cool Bavarian lagering process,” Hittinger said. “After adding some new variation for brewers to exploit, its sugar metabolism probably became more like ale yeast and better at producing beer.” |
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