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 Published Friday, July 24, 2020 Guanacaste
Day celebration recipes
By Melissa Pette Happy Guanacaste Day everyone! Tomorrow, we celebrate the 196 anniversary of the annexation of the former territory of Nicoya (today Guanacaste) to Costa Rica. It is an overwhelming feeling just imagining the people in 1824 organizing polling to decide if they would join the territory of Nicaragua or Costa Rica. Time has shown that the decision to join the territory of Costa Rica was a wise one. Guanacaste people are proud to keep many of their folkloric habits and traditions. And the food is not an exception. According to the Ministry of Culture, in its article, "Our Indians and their food," the Guanacastecan food in Costa Rica is the one that shows the most influence on the culture of corn. Many of its dishes are corn-based and preserve a strong gastronomic tradition. Well then, let's celebrate Guanacaste Day in the most folkloric way possible, preparing a couple of delicious traditional recipes. Thank you so much to Ana Calderon for sharing her family Tamales Guanacastecos recipe with us. She was born in Santa Cruz in Guanacaste, and now is a resident of Union County, New Jersey, U.SA. "In my lovely Guanacaste land, tamales are the traditional food at all celebrations: weddings, community parties, quinceañeras, and every party. It is not like in San José, that tamales are cooked only at Christmas," Ana said. She has nicely adapted the ingredients to make 20 tamales, enough for the whole family (or neighborhood).  Guanacaste Tamal By Ana Calderon Union County, New Jersey Ingredients: 1 package of cornmeal, 4 wedges garlics, 1/2 kilo of pork, 1/2 kilo of chicken breast, 1 package of rice (preferably pre-cooked), 2 cans of green peas, 2 large red sweet chili peppers, 2 cup vegetable oil (traditional recipe uses pork fat), 2 cans of carrots, 2 cup of Lizano sauce, 2 white onions, 2 teaspoon of pepper, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 3 teaspoons annatto powder, 1 package of banana leaves to make tamales and 1 roll of thread for tamales. The thread and the leaves are easily found in the supermarket. On the day before preparing the recipe, marinate the meat. Remove the grease from the pork and chicken. Marinate the meat with 1 cup of Lizano sauce, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of annatto powder. Leave the meat in the refrigerator for one day. On the next day, add the rice in a rice cooker, add one chopped onion in very small squares, add a chopped red chili in very small squares, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 2 teaspoons of annatto powder, 2 wedges garlic and 1 / 2 cup of oil. In a large pot, add the meat that was left marinating from the previous day, add water to cover the meat. Add 1 cup of Lizano sauce, the rest of the pepper, cumin, annatto, two wedges of garlic and 1/2 cup of oil. Cook over high heat for 30 minutes. The meat must be very well-cooked. Take out the meat and let it cool. Then cut the meat into square pieces about 4 x 4 centimeters. In the meat stock that remains in the pot, remove the two garlic wedges. Add the package of cornmeal and 1 cup oil. Stir over high heat for 30 to 45 minutes, until the dough is cooked. Add water if the sauce evaporates too quickly. The consistency of the dough should be similar to plasticine. In a bowl, mix an onion cut into very small pieces, a sweet chili cut into small pieces, the green peas and the carrot. This is a mix of vegetables. Spread two banana leaves on the table. Clean the leaves with a paper napkin. On the leaves, put a large spoonful of dough (the soup serving spoon works perfectly), on the dough add a tablespoon of rice, a piece of pork and another of chicken, a tablespoon with the vegetable mixture. Close the leaves carefully. Cut about 60 centimeters from the tamales thread and roll up the leaves. It is like putting a ribbon around a gift. Make sure the tamal is tightly closed. Don't forget to tie a double knot at the end. The recipe is for making 14 to 20 tamales. Join two tamales with more threads. To make pairs of tamales, more commonly known as “piña de tamal.” Put the paired tamales in a very large pot of boiling water. Cook for one more hour. Then let the tamales cool. Put them in the refrigerator. Before eating, heat the tamal again in boiling water for 20 minutes. The preparation is very elaborate, requires a lot of work, but it is worth it.! Chicha
Pujagua
Chicha is a traditional corn-based drink, very popular in Guanacaste, and many rural areas of Costa Rica. Chicha Pujagua stands out from the rest because the corn is purple.
The ingredients needed: 3/4 kilo of dried purple corn (ideally, shelling the corn cobs). Find the purple corn at the Ferial del Agricultor or supermarket. 4.5 liters of water, 1 sweet pineapple, 4 sour lemons, 1 cup of sugar, 7 cloves and 1 cinnamon stick. Remove the peel from the pineapple. In a saucepan pour three liters of water, add the peel, purple corn, cloves, and cinnamon stick. Cook over high heat until boiling point. Stir for 10 minutes with a large wooden spoon. Then, reduce the heat to low and continue stirring, cook for 50 more minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool. When it is cold strain twice. The first time use a standard strainer. The second time, use a clean cloth rag. In another pot, add the rest of the water, the chopped pineapple. Cook for 30 minutes. Stir constantly. Then let it cool. When this second mix is cold. Strain twice as well, just like in the previous preparation. Join the two previously strained liquids (the one that resulted from the fruits and the one that resulted from the purple corn), and add the sugar. Mix and refrigerate for 2 hours. Before serving, add the juice of the lemons to the chicha. Drink cold (ice is not necessary). Your social bubble will love it! Happy Guanacaste Day! --------------------------------- Editor's note: Email your comments or inquiries to Melissa Pette, melissaamcr2017@gmail.com Do you want to share your recipes with AM Costa Rica readers? Send your homemade recipes with a photo of the dish to food@amcostarica.com |
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