Tico Omelette Sets Record

CHICKENS everywhere are hoping this doesn’t turn into another gallo pinto episode. On Sunday, more than 70 Costa Rica chefs turned 12,750 eggs into the world’s largest omelette and got the country back into the record books.

In addition to the eggs, members of the National Association of Chefs used 17 liters of oil, 14 kilograms of salt, 600 sweet peppers and 49 kilograms of onions to cook the 20-meter-long, 2-meter-wide omelette.

Although they ultimately lost out to Nicaragua in the competition for the largest dish of gallo pinto, a typical rice and-bean breakfast dish (TT, Sept. 19, 2003), the National Association of Chefs currently holds the record for the world’s largest buffet.

In November 2002, the association beat Peru’s previous record of 300 dishes, with 430 different dishes served at one time.

“We always have the hope of setting more records. We are like a white army, in our coats,” said Alicia Ríos, secretary of the association’s board of directors.

The huge omelette was made as part of the Turrúcares, Alajuela, festival celebrating the town’s patron saint.

The cooking started Saturday when all of the ingredients were chopped. The chefs then spent six hours breaking eggs in a truck refrigerated to 4 degrees Centigrade to ensure no contamination occurred, according to Ríos.

“When we left we were like penguins,” she said.

Despite the preparations, the group of chefs ran into difficulties the next day when strong winds kept blowing out the 166 burners used to cook the eggs.

Breakfast was not finally served until 2 p.m., when the egg concoction was sold for ¢200 (47 cents) a portion.