Nomadic Narrative » festivals & events

Costa Rica celebrates its independence

Nomadic Narrative — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:06:08 +0000

Two days ago I passed a group of practicing percussionists on my way home. At six p.m. on the dot last night, fireworks exploded and screams filled Costa Rica’s Central Valley. El Grito de la Independencia kicked off the country’s 188th year of independence (gritar = to scream). Today, while sipping a late morning coffee, I heard loud booms and crashes in the distance ― more fireworks and percussion rehearsals. The September 15th Independence Day celebration was in full swing.
I took to the hot pavement at around 10:30 a.m. on this blue-skied afternoon with thousands of Costa Ricans. I didn’t have to walk far to join in the activities. Like many communities throughout the capital and the country, small parades filled the car-less streets. Parents walked alongside their kids who wore colorful, hand-stitched pollera dresses and some of the country’s traditional symbols, such as the carreta, or oxcart. Flags waved. Mascaradas, also known as payasos or clowns, danced to the beat of drums and xylophones. El Diablo occasionally paused to peer at parade-goers. Cheerleaders carrying pom poms and hoola hoops performed routines to the beat of a whistle. All while onlookers kept cool with popsicles and sorbets.

A few facts about Costa Rican independence:

Costa Rica declared independence from Spain in 1821 along with Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Costa Rica had four flags until one, tri-colored flag was designed and decreed on October 21, 1848.
The National Shield, which adorns the flag received its last update in 1964 when seven stars representing each province were added. The seven provinces are: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limón, Puntarenas and San José. The volcanoes represent the mountain ranges and the rising sun is a symbol of prosperity. The shield is wrapped in myrtle branches symbolizing peace.
El Himno Nacional was created in 1852 when American and British diplomats came to visit. As the story goes, a young musician by the name of Manuel María Gutierrez had just one night to compose it. Accompanying words were not written until 1903.

Did anyone else celebrate Independence Day in Central America? What did you do?

Costa Rica cooks world’s largest Gallo Pinto

Nomadic Narrative — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Costa Rica is another fledgling superpower ready to exert influence on the international scene — the culinary scene, that is. Late Saturday night, my next door neighbor told me about Costa Rica’s attempt to cook the world’s largest Gallo Pinto taking place the following day. Gallo Pinto is a typical Costa Rican (and Nicaraguan) dish made with rice, beans, cilantro and a few other ingredients. It’s usually accompanied by scrambled eggs and the flavorful Lizano sauce. It sounds like a simple dish, but people tend to argue over which recipe tastes better: adding the beans to the rice or the rice to the beans. Though I’ve made it twice, I have yet to form an opinion.

I got on the Internet and looked up information about the festival. La Nación published an article and announced that the festival would begin at 9 a.m. Even though days seem to get going earlier here in Costa Rica, my friends, even the Costa Rican ones, thought that 9 a.m. was too early. We figured that following tico time, we could get there an hour or so late and find plenty Gallo Pinto — it was to be the world’s largest after all! Well, after wandering the busy streets, to our dismay we stumbled upon the last Gallo Pinto remnants:

Despite our hunger, we enjoyed wandering around the national Gallo Pinto festival. The photo below is not the entrance to the beer garden, which I initially thought.

Lizano had several colorful props with the slogan: Sabor a la Tica, which translates as Tico flavor (Tico is short for Costa Rican).

Popular across borders, kids jumped and crawled all over inflatable games.

At a typical Costa Rican festival, how could you not stumble upon one of the national symbols — a carreta. I’m posing as the boyero in the photo — the person who makes sure the ox and the carreta are headed in the right direction. I’m getting there. I just loaded up the beans so that we can cook more Gallo Pinto!

Holiday decorating in Costa Rica

Nomadic Narrative — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:49:00 +0000

The day after Thanksgiving is when you hear that familiar shot in the air and, like Pavlov’s dogs, race to the mall and to the garage to unpack holiday decorations. Costa Rica doesn’t have a Thanksgiving buffer. The transition into the holiday season started as early as late October and has slowly made its way into every store front window and supermarket. I even drove by a twinkling tree placed at the entrance of a gas station last night. The stores below were some of the first to begin the festivities in my San José neighborhood.

Decorations at the fancy supermarket in my neighborhood.

Plastic Santa and sign identifies this small shopping center as the neighborhood Santa Stop.

Decorations available along roadsides for those wanting to create their own Santa Stop.

Tucurrique Pejibaye Festival

Nomadic Narrative — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:41:00 +0000

I went to the Pejibaye Festival last weekend and I ate it! All of it!

Pejibaye is a fruit that grows in bunches on palm trees. I love it because it tastes a bit like a roasted chestnut. My taste buds are not alone. Around thirty thousand people gather in the small rural town of Tucurrique de Cartago, Costa Rica every year to indulge in all kinds of pejibaye-based products from cookies to empanadas to chicha, moonshine in English. Like any good fair-goer, I left no culinary delight, palm-fruit flavored or not, unsampled.

Stalls selling both cooked and raw pejibaye dotted the festival—cooked pejibaye is easy to get at any supermarket. A popular recipe is to peel them and top the halves with a dollop of mayonnaise. This does not help my mayo intake. (read previous post)

This was a chorreada, which is an elote, or corn, pancake topped with a little fresh cream.

There were long lines in front of this sizzling pot of pork…

…this is what they were waiting for—chicharrones—and they were delicious. There are also boiled green banana slices, and mandarin orange wedges to squeeze on the meat.

This is a pupusa from El Salvador and very popular at the fair nonetheless. These pupusas, made from corn, were filled with beans, cheese, a little pejibaye and topped with salad and salsa.

I passed on the rides.

Read a previous post about the amazing world of Costa Rican fruit here.