Also, veganism is becoming more common, although there is a still a way to go before strict veganism becomes truly understood. Nowadays, a number of Ticos, mostly young people, are vegetarians. Years later, I still remember these potentially mortifying moments, and am so thankful now that being vegetarian is now a fairly normal concept. I escaped the shame of being an inconsiderate gringa. To my immense good fortune, Adelita is a huge fan of lengua en salsa. The host mother, beloved Doña Ana got up to fetch something she’d forgotten in the kitchen and I quickly scooped the tongue onto Adelita’s plate, disguising the missing tongue with a quick spoonful of salad. Say no and offend my host, or eat it and betray my principles?Īs luck would have it, neither option was necessary. I gulped, made appreciative noises, and looked at my friend and business partner, Adelita, who could barely stifle her laughter when she saw the sheer panic written all over my face. The main dish, or plato fuerte, was the biggest delicacy she could afford, lengua en salsa, which is an entire cow’s tongue in tomato sauce. I remember such an occasion when a host mother that hosts students at my school invited us to a special dinner to thank us for sending her students.
And if you happened to be invited to eat at someone’s house and they served meat, it was hard to say no without causing offense. However, the older generation, especially those who grew up with scarcity, simply could not understand why anyone would refuse such a treat as meat. While most people didn’t comprehend the motivation, they were generally respectful of what people requested. You would just ask for a casado without the meat. When a vegetarian “consciousness” first started to appear on the national radar, it was simple. Cultural attitudes towards vegetarian food
Globalization, health awareness, foreign influence and cultural trends have contributed to making Costa Rica a mecca for foodies of all kinds, offering vegan-friendly, gluten free, fusion, health-conscious and international eateries. Over the last two decades, Costa Rica has gone from blank stares when faced with a request for meat-free dishes, to an abundance of vegetarian restaurants, both in the Central Valley and in the more popular rural and beach areas. Things have changed radically since then! Costa Rica gets vegetarian-friendly
In that moment, I realized that the whole concept of eating meat was a whole different idea in Costa Rica. When I awkwardly reminded my host mom that my friend didn’t eat meat, she said, “oh, that’s just tiny pieces, it’s not really meat!” She served the spaghetti with a delicious tomato sauce… with ground beef.
#VEGAN CAFE PUERTO VIEJO HOW TO#
As we were strategizing on how to best manage vegan meals, my Tica host mother offered to make vegetarian pasta. We agonized over the fact that there weren’t any vegan restaurants in the entire country. One popular dish, picadillo de papas, which are finely chopped potatoes, often include small pieces of ground beef, but to many Costa Ricans (or Ticos), that doesn’t count as meat, so you might get a few strange looks when you push it to the side.ĭuring my very first homestay as a student in Costa Rica, a vegan friend visited me. Restaurant menus throughout the country offer some version of a casado, a national lunch staple, made of rice, beans, salad, vegetables, potatoes and the protein option of your choice such as cheese, egg, beef, chicken, pork or fish. Gallo pinto with omelette from De Gustibus in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. In a country known for healthy food options and whose most well-known staple foods are based on rice and beans, it’s easy to be a vegetarian in Costa Rica.īreakfast is usually gallo pinto, which often consists of rice, beans, and Salsa Lizano, the national sauce of Costa Rica.