No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsArts and CultureA Trapiche’s Story: Carrying on the Family, Costa Rican Tradition

A Trapiche’s Story: Carrying on the Family, Costa Rican Tradition

AT 2 a.m., 15-year-old Eduardo Sand quietly slips out of his house to begin a long day of work at the trapiche, the traditional sugar mill used to press the juice from freshly cut cane. Sandi has helped his grandfather at trapiches since he was five. At first, he held the candles needed for light; then, as he grew older, he stoked the fires with wood and tended the oxen that powered the mill. Over the years, he learned all the steps in the complex process of making the blocks of brown sugar called tapas.

His grandfather even told him the secret of how to know when the thick, bubbling cane juice is ready to be cooled and pressed into molds. But that day, he had a special reason for getting an early start – when his father arrived at daybreak, he saw that his son had produced a batch of tapas completely on his own for the first time.

THAT was 21 years ago. Since then, as roads were built and trucks replaced oxcarts, it became easier for farmers to transport cane to a central location for processing. Trapiches, and the know-how Sandí learned from his grandfather, began to vanish. Now Sandí is preserving a bit of Costa Rican history by doing traditional trapiches with his family, neighbors and visitors.

At the hilltop farm 26 kilometers (16 miles) south of Santiago de Puriscal, southeast of San José, Sandí has built a fire pit lined with large rocks and topped with packed earth. Atop the pit sits a wide, iron cauldron with the modern addition of stainless-steel sides to prevent the hot cane juice from splattering. At one end is a trench dug one meter deep (about 3 1/4 feet) for the person who feeds wood to the fire. At the other end, a blackened earth chimney allows smoke to escape.

TRADITIONAL sugar mills used to be powered by two oxen. Electric motors replaced the oxen about 15 years ago when electricity came to this area. Sandí’s trapiche has both types of power sources. Cane juice flows from the mill into buckets and the crushed stalks of cane are stacked off to the side to be fed to livestock. Sandí’s brother takes a handful of the bark of the Guácimo tree and swirls and squeezes it in a bucket of juice.

This bark soaks up any impurities before the juice is poured into the cauldron for cooking. Initially the fire is fueled with coffee wood, followed by other types of firewood. At the point when the hottest fire is needed, Sandi burns bamboo. Patches of bamboo still grow throughout this part of the country, planted decades ago by farmers who needed a supply of it near their trapiches. As the juice cooks, condensed steam fills the nostrils with the smells of new-mown hay and a hint of molasses.

The color changes from a pale yellowish green to amber. A neighbor stirs the cauldron with along ladle then scoops ladles of juice and pours them through the air to cool.

ABOUT halfway through the three-hour cooking process, the espuma is ready. Thefoam that forms at the top of the boiling juice makes a warm, sweet “soup,” which is eaten from bowls with pieces of crushed cane used as spoons. As the juice bubbles and cooks, it becomes thicker, and the color darkens. Some is dropped into a bowl of cool water where it becomes a delicious, gooey mass called, melcocha.

People pull off bite-sizepieces as the bowl is passed around.When the thick juice is ready, it ispoured into a large, wooden trough where itis mixed with a wooden paddle as it cools.Sandí then presses the soft, brown sugar intomolds cut into a thick plank. After furthercooling, he inverts the plank over a bed ofcrushed cane stalks and pounds the backwith a mallet to release the tapas. Later,stacks of four tapas are wrapped and tied incane leaves to form tamugas.

SANDÍ’S wife Dinia mixes the soft, brown sugar with powdered milk and crushed peanuts to form a type of candy. Cocoa, mint or cheese – yes, cheese – maybe used to make other flavors. Some are broken into bite-size pieces for tasting, and some cool as a loaf in a shallow basket made of banana stalk.

Trending Now

El Salvador Schools Enforce Military-Style Uniform Inspections

El Salvador's public schools will start enforcing daily inspections for students' uniforms and haircuts from August 20, as ordered by the new education minister,...

Fan Violence in Latin American Football Spurs Debate on Security and Culture

Images of a fan jumping from the stands to escape a beating as bottles, rocks and seats fly through the air at a game...

San Jose Airport Achieves Top 5 Global Ranking in Passenger Experience

Juan Santamaría International Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica's main gateway managed by AERIS, has earned the prestigious Level 5 Customer Experience certification from...

Costa Rica Drivers Face Yearlong Delays as Tárcoles Bridge Undergoes Repairs

Those who frequently use the South Coast Highway, near the Tárcoles river, will have to be more patient.  Repair works have started on the...

Panama Union Files Lawsuits Against Chiquita Over Mass Layoffs

Panama’s President, José Raúl Mulino, will meet in Brazil with U.S. banana company Chiquita Brands in search of an agreement for the company to...

Honduras Community Demands Justice in Environmental Murder Case

Three defendants accused of murdering an environmental activist in Honduras 11 months ago appeared before a court this Thursday for a preliminary hearing, the...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica