Page 22 - NORTHERN GUANACASTE TOURIST GUIDE

Cuisine
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In Guanacaste, you can savor exquisite dishes with pre-Columbian and colonial influences, made from corn, rice, beef, pork and poultry. The emblematic
dishes and drinks on the menu include pozol, meatballs, tamales, yoltamal, tortilla comalera, tortilla revuelta, sopa borracha, gallina inchida, vigorón, arroz de maíz, carne en bao and ayaco. You will also be able to taste the cajeta de papaya lustrada, cashew sweets, empanadilla de conserva, limón lustrado, polvorón, marquesote lustrado, tamal asado, tamal de olla, atol de maíz, piñonate, horchata, resbaladera, pinolillo. So delicious you won’t be able to resist!
Guanacaste has an expansive coastline on the Pacific Ocean, meaning that its cuisine heavily features fish and seafood. The most commonly used fish in Costa Rican cuisine include tuna, sea bass, cod, sardines, mackerel, red snapper, grouper and shark. River fish such as tilapia, trout and salmon are also frequently caught and eaten. The catch also includes a large
number of crustaceans and mollusks, with the most popular including shrimp, chuchecas, pianguas, octopus, squid, clams, oysters, crabs, lobsters and several other types of shellfish.
Fish and shellfish are used in a variety of dishes. The most popular is ceviche, which is usually made of corvina or shrimp, cooked in lemon juice, onion and cilantro. Other popular dishes are rice with shrimp, squid or shellfish; seafood cooked with garlic or butter, paella, seafood soup, grilled lobster, breaded seafood milanesa, salad with tuna, salpicón and fish fillets or fried whole fish. Among the traditional dishes of Guanacaste, it is customary to eat fish whole, filleted, fried, in sauce, breaded, “a la milanesa”, or stuffed with seafood. Corvina and red snapper are the most frequently used.
Pozol
A dish made from pork and corn.
Atol Pujagua
A dessert prepared with corn, ground cinnamon and sugar. It is eaten hot or cold.
Yoles
A tamale made with tender corn, sour cream, fresh
cheese, sugar and salt.
Sopa borracha
A dessert made from roasted corn, eggs, lemon peel, sugar cane liquor, cloves and panela.
Corn
Made of white or yellow corn, with dry cheese, lard and salt, ideal to go with a cup of coffee.
Corn tortilla
A tortilla made with corn and water. A traditional fixture of the area, regularly served with various traditional dishes or eaten with cheese, cuajada or picadillos.
Rosquillas
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