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Oxen day: Juan Daniel Montero, 5, from San Isidro de El Guarco, walks with cattle and oxen down Avenida Central from the basilica to the main square in Cartago Sunday in an event organized by Costa Rica's Agriculture and Livestock Ministry to kick off a week to mark World Food Day, which falls on Thursday. |
Lindy Drew | Tico Times |
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| Government plans to tackle growing air pollution problem |
| A mid-May report that found San José's air quality to be hazardous to your health seems to have finally grabbed the government's attention. |
| See More... |
Costa Rica nabs spot in next year’s
regional World Cup qualifying finals |
| Costa Rica's national men's soccer team beat Suriname 4-1 Saturday, its fourth consecutive win, to clinch a spot in next year's regional finals for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. |
| See More... |
| Coast Guard rescues fishermen thrown to sea by bandits |
| Costa Rica Coast Guard agents and National Police officers rescued three fishermen who were tied up and thrown into the ocean by assailants attempting to steal their shrimp and boat motor off Chira Island, in the Gulf of Nicoya, the Public Security Ministry said Friday. |
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| U.S. calls on aspiring directors to enter 'Democracy Video Challenge' |
| The U.S. State Department is calling on people ages 18 and up from all over the world to enter a contest to create a short video that completes the sentence "Democracy is...," the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica said. |
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Yuca an Ancient
New World Staple |
Rainy season is in full swing in the Central American tropics. Past is the season for fruits such as the beloved mango and cantaloupe. It is, however, time for another product to be widely available at low prices all over the country. |
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Government plans to tackle
growing air pollution problem |
By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff | lbaxter@ticotimes.net |
A mid-May report that found San José's air quality to be hazardous to your health seems to have finally grabbed the government's attention.
Following five years of annual studies from the National University (UNA) that show increasing air pollution in the capital, the Oscar Arias administration has signed a series of agreements to bolster the university's research and act on its findings.
“The idea is for the government to have the data to make decisions,” said Félix Rojas, a researcher with UNA's Laboratory of Air Quality.
To tackle the problem, the Arias administration and UNA have agreed to create the National Atmospheric Pollutant Monitoring Network, a program that will expand the university's research and make it the basis for government policy.
The program takes the university's studies into the capital cities of other neighboring provinces, such as Alajuela to the northwest and Cartago to the east, that make up the greater metropolitan area surrounding the city proper of San José.
UNA's air quality study released in May found that levels of nitrogen dioxide, the metal manganese and fine-particulate matter exceeded levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as relatively safe (TT, May 23).
Read upcoming The Tico Times print or pdf editions for more on this story. |
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Costa Rica nabs spot in next year’s
regional World Cup qualifying finals |
By Holly K. Sonneland
Tico Times Staff | hsonneland@ticotimes.net |
Costa Rica's national men's soccer team beat Suriname 4-1 Saturday, its fourth consecutive win, to clinch a spot in next year's regional finals for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Captain Walter Centeno opened the scoring at 10 minutes, and midfielder Celso Borges notched the second goal just before the end of the first half, with forward Bryan Ruíz getting the assist for both.
Midfielder Armando Alonso scored minutes into the second half, this time with Centeno on the assist. Although Suriname striker Clifton Sandvliet responded less than a minute later, his team would never make any other serious threat to the Ticos, who rounded out the night with one more goal in the 76th minute by Alonso Solís, just three minutes after he was subbed in for Ruíz.
The win puts la Sele atop Group 3 with 12 points. The team hosts Haiti this Wednesday at the Saprissa Stadium in Tibás, on the north side of San José, and then travels to San Salvador for the final game of the quadrangular phase Nov. 19 against El Salvador, who also look likely to qualify with seven points.
While Costa Rica was largely expected to make it to the next round due to the relatively weak quadrangular group competition, the wins have proven important opportunities for the team to coalesce under new Coach Rodrigo Kenton, who took over this summer from Hernán Medford. The team suffered a year-long 12-game winless drought under Medford, who, although a former standout player for la Sele, was often testy and divisive as helmsman.
The United States also has secured their spot in next year's hexagonal phase after a 6-1 over Cuba to secure their lead in Group 1, also with 12 points. In Group 2, Mexico suffered a surprise 0-1 loss to Jamaica earlier in the week, but still co-leads the group along with Honduras at nine points, over Jamaica's four points and two games left for each team to play.
The top two teams from each of the three groups in the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean Association Football) regional tournament will play in a six-team final qualifying tournament, known here as the hexagonal phase.
The top three teams from the hexagonal phase will win automatic bids to South Africa, while the fourth-placed team will vie against the fifth-placed team in the South America tournament for the hemisphere's final qualifying slot.
Also in the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament of the best club soccer teams in the region, local giant Saprissa drew a painful 2-2 tie against the U.S.' DC United Thursday in San José. After falling behind early, Saprissa scored a pair of goals to go ahead in the 85th minute. But DC United equalized in injury time. Saprissa, who beat DC United on their home turf last month, is now in a three-way tie in Group A with Honduras' Marathon and Mexico's SC Cruz Azul. Their next game in the tournament will be on Oct. 23 against Marathon in San Pedro Sula. |
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Coast Guard rescues
fishermen thrown to sea by bandits |
Costa Rica Coast Guard agents and National Police officers rescued three fishermen who were tied up and thrown into the ocean by assailants attempting to steal their shrimp and boat motor off Chira Island, in the Gulf of Nicoya, the Public Security Ministry said Friday.
The victims, identified as Ezequiel Mendoza, Norman Pérez and Olger Corrales, were scooped from the ocean and brought to safety in the sixth Coast Guard operation to prevent similar crimes in the gulf this year alone, according to a ministry press release.
National Coast Guard Service Commissioner Mart í n Arias explained that the agents were responding to an emergency call at 7 p.m. Thursday that reported several men on a ship being forced to hand over their catches and boat motor.
"The response was fast because three of our boats were on (fishing) ban enforcement patrol and once we got to the scene we found that three of the victims, who had been catching shrimp, had been thrown into the water," he said.
The assailants fled the scene.
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U.S. calls on aspiring directors to
enter 'Democracy Video Challenge' |
The U.S. State Department is calling on people ages 18 and up from all over the world to enter a contest to create a short video that completes the sentence "Democracy is...," the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica said.
Under the tagline "Democracy: Your Voice. Your Video," the criteria for the short clip are broad. It should be a maximum three-minutes long, can be created in a fictional or documentary style, animated or with live actors, either in English or with English subtitles.
The deadline to send in the video is Jan. 31, 2009 (details at www.videochallenge.america.gov and in Spanish at www.videochallenge.america.gov/es/rules.htm ).
Seven winners, picked from a pool of contestants in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, North and sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, will be invited on an expenses-paid visit in October 2009 to Washington, D.C., New York and Hollywood, where their videos will be shown and they will meet with government representatives, TV and film producers.
Semifinalists will be selected from February to March 2009, and the winners will be announced by mid-June, according to an embassy press release. |
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Yuca an Ancient New World Staple |
Rainy season is in full swing in the Central American tropics. Past is the season for fruits such as the beloved mango and cantaloupe. It is, however, time for another product to be widely available at low prices all over the country. Though present year-round, yuca (Manihot esculenta) is more abundant this time of year. The tuber goes by several different names in English, including manioc, cassava and tapioca.
The root vegetables of many New World areas have a long history attached to them. Archaeological evidence reveals their use by aboriginal groups in Mexico, Central America and Brazil as early as 3000 B.C. Griddles for baking cassava bread dating back to almost 2000 B.C. have been found in South America (see story on facing page). In these ancient cultures, cassava historically played a social role, such as in religious ceremonies.
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| Croquette, Anyone? Enyucados are a traditional Costa Rican dish made from the historically important cassava root. |
Marco González | Tico Times |
According to one legend from the Tupi Indians of the Amazon, a mother with no food watched her child starve. When he died, she buried him under her hut. That night, a wood spirit known as a mani came and transformed the child's body into the roots of a plant that grew up to feed future generations. The plant was called mani-oca (oca meaning “root”).
Yuca – not to be confused with the English yucca, which is a plant of the agave family – appears to have been cultivated mainly in two areas: the semi-arid regions of the Yucatán Peninsula and adjacent Guatemala, and northeastern Brazil. While practically unknown in temperate regions, the plant is native to Brazil and is a staple for more than 600 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America. As is true of most staple crops, yuca is almost all starch, containing up to 35 percent carbohydrates, only about 1 percent protein and almost no vitamins. The tubers can be boiled, baked, fried or dried, and are used to make flour, breads, tapioca, sugar, laundry starch and even alcoholic drinks.
One yuca plant can yield 20 pounds or more of tubers, which can be stored for a long time. Plants are grown from stems with buds, and the tubers are ready to harvest after about 18 months.
An ideal crop for the tropics, yuca grows well on dry and wet soils, produces roots in poor soils, is relatively resistant to insects and fungal pests, requires a minimal amount of agricultural effort and has a high yield per unit area. The world annual production of yuca is more than 158 billion tons, mostly used for human consumption and animal food.
Of the hundreds of known species, two types of yuca are mainly grown today. “Bitter” yuca, which has a high concentration of cyanides, is used to make glues and industrial products. “Sweet” yuca, or low-cyanide yuca, is produced for consumption. Processing is complex, because most varieties of the tuber contain potentially toxic concentrations of these cyanogenic glycosides that are reduced to innocuous levels through cooking. Yuca should never be eaten raw, and it must be cooked at temperatures of at least 200 degrees F to eliminate hydrogen cyanide byproducts.
Yuca plays a modern role as an industrial product in starches, adhesives and textiles. Brazilian researchers are currently studying its possible use in the production of dextrose and certain alcohols. Yuca may be processed into flour or boiled to create gelatinous tapioca pellets, which are used as a thickening agent in pies and other desserts.
In Costa Rica, yuca may be present at dinner tables around the country. It is made into fries, pies, tamales or the famous meat- and/or cheese-stuffed enyucados, deep-fried croquettes often topped with a sauce. It is especially present on the Caribbean coast, where its fried form accompanies many traditional dishes.
In West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, yuca is commonly prepared as eba or gari, grated and fried and then mixed with boiling water to form a thick paste.
Yuca is heavily featured in the cuisine of Brazil. The dish vaca atolada (“mud-stranded cow”) is a meat and cassava stew that is cooked until the root has turned into a paste. Pirão is a thick, gravy-like gruel prepared by cooking fish bits (such as heads and bones) with yuca flour. In farofa (lightly roasted flour), yuca combines with rice and beans to make the basic meal of working-class Brazilians. Farofa is also a standard side dish for feijoada, the famous meat-and-beans stew. Boiled yuca is made into a popular sweet pudding, and deep-fried mandioca is a popular snack.
No matter how you cook it, yuca is destined to play a role in New World and new Costa Rican cuisines. Surprise yourself with one of the world's oldest delicacies.
Enyucados (Cassava Croquettes) |
Ingredients:
2 lb fresh yuca, cooked and mashed into a puree
1/2 lb fresh, soft goat cheese (chèvre)
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbs fresh basil, finely chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp chipotle sauce (made from roasted jalapeño peppers)
Salt and pepper to taste
Flour to dust
1 beaten egg
Bread crumbs and sesame seeds for breading
Oil for deep-frying
Preparation Tip:
Wash yuca under running water until clean. Peel with a very sharp chef's knife, thinly slicing and removing the skin to reveal the white flesh. Cut into four-inch lengths, then cut each piece in half to reveal the core with the tough “string.” Remove the string for quicker cooking. Cook until tender in plenty of boiling water, spiced with bay leaves, black peppercorns, garlic, oregano, cloves, one tablespoon of butter and a dash of salt. |
Drain well and use while warm, when it is easier to handle. Raw yuca can be poisonous, so be extremely careful never to eat it unless it is thoroughly cooked.
Directions:
1. In a bowl, mix the yuca puree, olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate bowl, combine goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and basil. Set aside.
3. Form two-inch balls of the yuca puree and stuff each with a spoonful of the cheese mixture.
4. Preheat oil in a frying pan to 300 degrees F.
5. Bread the croquettes by coating with flour, then egg, then the bread crumb-sesame seed mixture.
6. Lower the croquettes into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, approximately two to three minutes. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
7. Mix the mayonnaise and chipotle sauce to create a dip. Serve warm, with chipotle dip on the side.
Makes four servings. |
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