In the Central Valley or Central Plateau - in the center of the country - is where the main cities are concentrated and where the highest population density is established. There, at the beginning of the 19th century - during the colonial era - the foundations of Costa Rica’s traditional Creole cuisine began to be laid. We could identify two branches within the culinary practices of the region: one of Cartago, with a strong influence from traditional Spanish cuisine - Castilian, Andalusian, and Sephardic - combined with indigenous and Afro-Caribbean food customs, and the other from the Western Valley (San José, Heredia, and Alajuela), which adds agricultural components and more current European trends to the Cartago school, as a result of ongoing immigration after the wars.
In Guanacaste and the entire northern zone of the country, a fertile land facilitates the obtaining of a significant diversity of food supplies. Guanacaste is the main producer of cereals, and the mixing was complemented with different arrivals of Spaniards, Chinese, Lebanese, and Central Americans. Corn is a fundamental product in the preparation of typical Guancastecan recipes. It is common for old houses to have a clay oven where tortillas, chorreadas, maize porridge, pozol, tamales, cookies, and tanelas are cooked. Additionally, other frequently found dishes in the region include corn atol, chilote hash, vigorón, chilasquilas, chicken meat Achiotada, pork soup with meatballs, tender squash soup (with quelites), and various types of pickles. Livestock activity is also very present and is reflected in the consumption of roasted meats and “fritos,” a stew that includes different parts of the pig, mainly the head. Among dairy products are Bagaces cheese, natilla, and cuajada. The coyol wine - made through fermentation of palm sap - and “sleeping milk” - which contains cuajada, lemon, sugar, and sometimes cinnamon - are two typical drinks of the area. These are complemented by pinolillo, chicha, chicheme, and pozol. Among desserts, distinctive goodies include prestìnos, various types of homemade sweet breads, marquesotes, buñuelos, pequerreques, borracha soup, and piñonates. The northern part, made up of the provinces of Alajuela and Heredia, shares a lot with these Guancastecan recipes and also produces agricultural products, besides being one of the main locations for livestock, dairy, and fattening activities in the country.
If we move along the Pacific coast from the center to the south, we arrive at the province of Puntarenas, a main scene for Costa Rica’s artisanal fishing. Rice and seafood soup with shrimp, clams, oysters, octopus, mussels, and fish fillet are common delights among local diners. The marine cuisine is the star of this region, and fish are consumed in all their forms. Notable dishes include rice guacho, a quite liquid rice preparation with seafood and pork or chicken; fish salpicón with tomato sauce; shrimp cakes; and ceviche, which is usually made with corvina but can also use tuna, dorado, shrimp, or other seafood. Beyond what the sea provides, the multicultural presence brought by ships from all over the world to these coasts led to the creation and fusion of dishes such as patacones (fried green plantains), vegetable pickles, rice tamales, and stuffed eggplant, among others. Some desserts that stand out are “churchill,” a milk granita with condensed milk to which fruit or ice cream is added, and grapefruits stuffed with milk cajeta, among many others.
If we venture into Limón province, we will notice a cuisine markedly different from the rest of the country. It served as a gateway for many immigrants entering the country, but its cuisine remained isolated for decades, heavily influenced by the indigenous Bribri and Cábécar cultures, which based their diet on leaves and tubers, unlike the rest of the country, whose main staple was corn. African presence also marked the region, adding ingredients like tubers and beans to various dishes, as well as using rondón for stews, green leaves for soups and salads, herbal tea preparations, and ingredients ignored elsewhere in the country, such as okra and ackee.
