The more time I spend in Costa Rica, the more I use these strange ingredients to my advantage. We would never have attempted lentil burgers or Thai green curry had bags of legumes and cans of coconut milk not been so plentiful. We are no longer distracted by the frozen vegetables and heat-and-serve dinner kits we once bought from Trader Joe’s.
How would one serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal with a few Costa Rican twists? Tico Times columnist and culture editor Katherine Stanley and her husband, chef Adrián Obando, explore a few possibilities.
I sat down to eat pizza at El Portón Rojo (200 meters east and 75 south from Arenas store, at Los Yoses) and ordered my usual pizza for two —prosciutto, arugula, and parmesan cheese— but instead of the usual beer, I asked for a drink that seemed familiar: the sapo bautizado.
It seems like Isaac Montero barely looks at the bar while he is assembling his equipment. He quickly stacks cocktail mixers, puts down tiny bottles of homemade cocktail bitters and fastens his black leather apron all while talking. Everything he needs is meticulously arranged to be at the reach of his hands.
