Wild stuffed tomato topped with culantro coyote pesto, pitahaya cactus fruit and cucumber marinated in sour orange and mint, greens dressed in banana vinegar, veal medallion with chicasquil velouté and breadfruit and tiquizque chips.
It is true that most Costa Ricans eat rice and beans on a daily basis. But it is also true that the daily Tico diet used to include what foreigners might consider exotic and unconventional fruits, vegetables and herbs.
Anonas, malanga, pipián, tiquizque, flor de itabo, yuplón and chicasquil are Costa Rican native products that not even Ticos recognize today. Younger generations may recall hearing those names in their grandmothers’ kitchens; but give them a malanga and they will have no idea how to cook it. The Costa Rican Restaurant Chamber (CACORE) wants to change this.
At its recent 30th anniversary celebration, the chamber decided to spotlight traditional Tico ingredients in an effort to turn them into the future of gourmet Costa Rican cuisine. Malanga and tiquizque chips, culantro coyote pesto, flor de itabo risotto and tacacorelish were among the dishes served during the celebration’s dinner.
Price $1.00
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