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Does anyone know where to buy fresh lamb? It would be nice to see a list of favorite “hard to find” foods and the places that carry them. List yours here.
Thanks
Lamb is by far my favourite meat and we buy lamb every week in AutoMercado – the best days are Wednesdays & Thursdays. In fact I BBQ’d two chuleta de paleta de cordero last night which was simply dee-licious. Only c5,940 per kilo … Or, about $5 for the two of them.
Carnes Exotica S.A. (2267-7896 or 8349-0412) will deliver whole lambs to you (average weight 20 kilos) for c6,000 per kilo. They also sell milk fed veal and rabbit which I also love …
There are also a couple of good Lebanese restaurants in SJO that serve great lamb, in fact I’ll be eating shish kebab de cordero (lamb) in about 45 minutes…
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comDepending on my travel plans during the day, I shop in AutoMercado in Plaza Mayor in Rohrmoser, in Escazu and in Santa Ana and all of them have lamb and I picked up a lovely whole rabbit yesterday in AutoMercado Rohrmoser… .
Roasted in a nice creamy Dijon mustard sauce… Hmm!
Scott Oliver
We’ve only shopped in the markets in the “provincial” areas of Costa Rica and found a LOT of things hard to find. Most noticeably any kind of selection of cheese is missing. No real cheddar, no Swiss, no hard cheeses. Wine is pretty sparse, especially white (blanco) or rose’. And these are off-limits (not sold) on election days and many holidays. Also a variety of beans. For a rice and beans country the choice of beans is surprisingly slim. Nuts (besides peanuts) in quantity are also rare.
On the other hand there are fruits and vegetables that you won’t find anywhere else. The selection of fresh seafood is typically Mediterranean including things you won’t find in 99% of U.S. markets such as squid and octopus. You can also buy pina’ (pineapple) at wholesale prices if you know where to go. A luxury in the states that can be had at every meal in Costa Rica at 1/5 the price.
Be careful purchasing spices in the the little packets. If you don’t know what they are you could get in trouble. There are dyes, borax, lime (for canning) and many things I did not recognize for cooking as we know it but remember from the chemistry set I had in my youth. . .
Its all part of the adventure.
Add to the list : German Cheese Cake
To find : Nowhere in Costa Rica
I have to make it from scratch, only the cheese processing takes 2 – 3 days…….
(forget about the german bakeries, there is not much German in that stuff)
There’s a great new German deli in Santa Ana – the owner doesn’t speak a word of English or Spanish but has some dee-licious speck, sausages, pates, lots of different cold meats and other foods…
Scott Oliver
Scott..where would two newly transplanted Brit’s find British grocery items to buy, HP, Marmite, Custard, pickled onions etc.
I have never been able to find Marmite here and normally bring it back with me when I visit the UK
AutoMercado has sauces very similar to HP and they certainly have pickled onions…
Scott Oliver
The new German deli is on the old road going from Escazu to Santa Ana about 400 meters before you get to the Cruz Roja in Santa Ana and about 200 meters before the ‘Mana’ restaurant – it’s on the right hand side and it’s called ‘Freistaat Thuringen’ which you know that no Tico could remember…
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com
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