Lake Arenal Residents Say The Area Is Getting Better For ‘Foodies’

For those of you who know me personally, you know that I am a complete “foodie”. I love to cook and I love all types of food.

I read endlessly about cooking methods, recipe reviews, new ways to cook, etc. My two favorite websites are Epicurious.com and ChowHound.com – I also enjoy reading a lot of the new food blogs that are springing up on the Internet.

As I write this, I am waiting for some fresh goat’s milk/yogurt cheese that I made from scratch to be ready. I got the goat’s milk from one of my neighbors. I added basil, sea salt, roasted red bell peppers, and a bit of garlic to the cheese while I was making it. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

The only thing that I can really complain about living in Costa Rica is the food. I have often wondered how a foodie such as myself ended up in a country where the local cuisine is, well, not cuisine. The Ticos possess a very simple palate. Ahh, but the challenges of finding and resourcing my food wants and desires has turned out to be quite fun and entertaining. And some of the food in Costa Rica is superior to the food in the U.S. and Canada.

I much prefer the natilla here to the “American” version of sour cream. Natilla is more like creme fraiche. And of course the tropical fruits here are outstanding. I love having a whole bunch of organic bananas hanging on my kitchen porch where I can grab one any time I like. And since I’m such a carnivore, I really like the pork tenderloin (lomito de cerdo) and veal (ternero) that I can buy for not much dinero.

Over the four-plus years that I have lived in Costa Rica, I have seen big changes in the availability of better and more varied food products as well as better restaurants opening all of the time. My hands-down favorite restaurant at Lake Arenal is, of course, Gingerbread. There is no comparison. Chef Eyal’s food is some of the best I have had in Costa Rica, and in the world, as a matter of fact.

Another restaurant in this area that I enjoy is Cafe y Macadamia near Rio Piedras. I love their composed salads. I had lunch there last week and took this photo of my food:

It is a grilled Tilapia composed salad with roasted eggplant and lots of other goodies and it is served with a fantastic vinaigrette and homemade nutbread. Mmmmm…

Most of the time, though, I like to cook at home. And you never know what I’m going to decide to try next. But the challenge here has always been finding the ingredients. I and my foodie friends here trade stories about the stuff we manage to smuggle in from the U.S. and Canada on our frequent trips – such as goat cheese, Better Than Bullion, blanched almonds, good cocoa, special pastas, etc.

But I have also become adept at substitutions, i.e., using celery leaves in place of Italian parsley, using Queso Turrialba or Queso Tierno (local fresh cheeses) when I make a Caprese salad, red onion in place of shallots, etc. But last week, friends, I hit the jackpot. My friend Ann invited me to go to Liberia with her for a day of shopping. Liberia is a little over an hour’s drive from the lake.

Liberia has been growing rapidly over the past couple of years and now has a lot of the same shops that you used to have to drive to San Jose for. On the way to Liberia, Ann told me that we would be going to Pippo’s Italian Warehouse. I had heard about this place before, but could never find it.

Well, lo and behold, that day turned out to be the best food shopping experience I have had in several years. Pippo’s is hidden in the back of a warehouse cluster not far from the international airport. They do not have a sign, so you just have to know how to find them.

|image5|

I could not believe my eyes when I walked inside Pippo’s for the first time. Stacks and stacks of Italian foods. They have wines, ales, Italian sodas, pastas, olives, oils, beans, soups, sweets, sauces, ciabatta bread, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, European butter, frozen salmon filets, prosciutto, salamis, goat cheese, raviolis – the list goes on and on.

So, poco a poco Costa Rica is becoming an okay place for good food.

Gotta run now – I’m planning what I will cook tonight.

Written by VIP Member Laura Murray.

Lake Arenal Residents Say The Area Is Getting Better For ‘Foodies’.

Article/Property ID Number 1797

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.