# Costa Rican Afro-Caribbean Food (with recipes)



## FincaPerlitas

Like most foodies, one of the things I like most about traveling to other countries is discovering new and interesting foods. Unfortunately, most foodies are a bit disappointed when they discover that most Costa Rican food, while good, is usually rather simple and boring. We have fabulous fresh fruits and vegetables, but that's about it. The better restaurants and home cooks focus more on international cuisine than on national dishes.

One notable exception to this is in the Caribbean province of Limon, particularly around its capital city of the same name. In the 1870's a large number of blacks came to Limon from the Caribbean islands, particularly Jamaica, to work on construction of the railroad. They greatly influenced the culture and the cuisine of the region and their descendants still form a major part of the population. Most are English-speaking and although their families have lived in Costa Rica for generations, Spanish is their second language which many don't begin to learn until they start school.

The typical cuisine is heavily Afro-Caribbean influenced and some of it is absolutely fabulous. One of their best-known dishes is “Rice and Beans”, always called by its English name. It is decidedly not “arroz con frijoles”, which simply means a plate of white rice served with beans alongside, nor is it “Gallo Pinto” - a staple in the diet of most Costaricans, made by mixing leftover cooked rice with cooked beans, adding a little onion, sweet pepper and perhaps cilantro, then reheating it. It is usually eaten for breakfast, but often for other meals as well. Gallo pinto is cheap, filling, nutritious and even tasty, but it definitely isn't very exciting or interesting.

Rice and beans is another story altogether – spicy, aromatic and an interesting blend of spices and flavors, as you'll see when you read the recipe. It's usually served as an accompaniment to a chicken, meat or seafood dish which is also prepared Caribbean-style. My version is served with chicken.

As far as I know, no complete written version of these recipes exists anywhere, certainly not in English. My version was compiled from numerous imperfect Spanish-language sources and from conversations with local cooks who prepare the dish. Of course, none of them have written recipes or measure any of the ingredients and everyone makes it a little differently.

Although neither the rice and beans nor the chicken recipes are particularly complicated, I don't recommend that you make them for guests until you've made a couple of trial runs for yourself. I'm certain you'll want to tweak the seasonings, amount of liquids, etc. to suit your taste.

It was a lot of work compiling, translating and explaining these recipes. I'm glad to do it and to share them and hope you enjoy them. I'd very much appreciate feedback, positive or negative. I'll consider doing other recipes if people find it worthwhile.


*Caribbean Rice and Beans with Chicken *
*(Rice and Beans con Pollo Caribeño)*​ 
*Caribbean Rice and Beans*

¼ cup dry small red beans
2 cups water
1 whole clove garlic
1 whole medium onion
1 whole habanero or scotch bonnet pepper
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups coconut milk (see note, below)
2 cups uncooked rice

1. Wash beans and soak overnight in 2 cups water. 
2. Place beans and soak water in a pot. If preferred, discard the soak water and use 2 cups fresh. 
3. Add one whole onion, one whole clove garlic, one sprig fresh thyme, one bay leaf and one Tbsp olive oil.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook until the beans are done, about 1 to 1 ½ hrs. Don't overcook.
5. Remove and discard onion, garlic, bay leaf and thyme.
5. Add 2 cups coconut milk, salt and pepper to taste, and one whole habanero pepper. Bring to a boil.
6. While it's re-heating, wash and drain the rice. 
7. Add washed, drained rice to the pot, stir well, and reduce to simmer. Cover and cook until done, about 17 to 20 minutes.
8. Remove habanero pepper, fluff the rice, re-cover and allow to sit for 5 or 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with Caribbean Chicken in Coconut Milk. For important hints, see the notes following the chicken recipe.



*Caribbean Chicken in Coconut Milk*
*(Pollo Caribeño en Leche de Coco)*​ 
2 to 2 ½ lbs chicken pieces (I prefer thighs for this recipe)
3 limes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp Lizano Sauce, optional (available online and in some Latin markets)
Cooking oil of your preference (use no more than is necessary)
1 sweet pepper, cut in strips (red preferred)
1 or 2 habanero peppers, whole
1 medium onion, cut in strips
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp achiote paste (available in any Latin market)

1. Squeeze lime juice on the chicken and season with salt, pepper, curry powder (and Lizano Sauce, if you have it). Let it rest for a few minutes.
2. Brown chicken in cooking oil in a hot skillet.
3. In a separate skillet, saute onion and sweet pepper in cooking oil until limp. Add chopped tomato and cook briefly. 
4. Add coconut milk, whole habanero pepper and achiote paste. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
5. Pour the sauce over the chicken, reduce heat and cook uncovered until chicken in done. Add more liquid to the sauce if it begins to reduce too much. You can use more coconut milk, water, chicken broth, or regular milk. The cooking time will depend on which pieces of chicken you use and how much you cook the chicken during the browning process. Cook it (turning occasionally if you like – I don't turn mine) until its tender enough that a fork will easily pierce all the way through a chicken thigh. (approx. 20 to 25 minutes).
6. Remove the habanero pepper before serving.

Serve with Caribbean Rice and Beans.

*NOTES: *Canned coconut milk can be purchased in most Asian and Latin markets. Be certain to buy coconut milk, not cream of coconut or coconut water. They aren't acceptable substitutes. Also, you can make your own using fresh or shredded, unsweetened coconut. Don't use sweetened coconut. If using fresh, choose a coconut that sloshes when shaken. Pierce the three dark eyes with a clean phillips screwdriver or a nail. Drain the water. Place the drained coconut on a baking sheet in a 350F oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until the shell just begins to crack. Let cool slightly, then place it on a solid surface and hit it along the crack with a hammer or mallet and break it into pieces. Pry the meat from the shell with a blunt instrument (screwdriver, oyster knife, table knife, etc.). Pare off the brown skin with a knife or vegetable peeler. Grate the coconut with a box grater. Measure the grated coconut and place in a heatproof bowl or pot. Add one cup boiling water for each cup coconut and allow to steep for ½ hour. Strain through a colander lined with a double layer of cheesecloth, squeezing out the liquid. Repeat. Discard the coconut. Add water to yield 3 cups total. You'll need 2 cups for the rice and 1 cup for the chicken (recipe follows). 

You can use canned beans, if preferred. If small red beans aren't available, substitute red kidney beans or black beans. I always drain canned beans. Whether you drain them or not, be sure to increase the water in the recipe so you have a total of 4 cups liquid. You need about ¾ cup of cooked beans, so one can should do.

The rice and beans can be prepared in an automatic rice cooker, if you have one.

Lizano Sauce (Salsa Lizano) is ubiquitous in Costa Rican cooking and has become popular throughout Central America and increasingly in North America. It's worth going to the trouble to find it, but this recipe won't suffer much if you don't add it. For more info, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_Lizano


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## kitchenelf

Thanks for the recipes.  And as far as Salsa Lizano, I drizzle it on my omelets!!  It's AWESOME!


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## FincaPerlitas

kitchenelf said:


> Thanks for the recipes. And as far as Salsa Lizano, I drizzle it on my omelets!! It's AWESOME!


 
Where do you get your Salsa Lizano?  Is it available locally in your area or do you order it?


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## marigeorge

Thanks for sharing the delicious sounding recipe. I am anxious to try it.
I checked and I can get the _Salsa Lizano_ from Amazon.com!


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## FincaPerlitas

marigene said:


> Thanks for sharing the delicious sounding recipe. I am anxious to try it.
> I checked and I can get the _Salsa Lizano_ from Amazon.com!


 
You can probably find achiote paste locally.  If not, you may want to order it as well.  It's actually more important to this recipe than the Lizano.  It's best to look for a vendor who stocks both products to save on shipping.


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## BreezyCooking

I just recently purchased Achiote Paste at our local WalMart.

We have a large Hispanic population here & our WalMart has an entire aisle devoted to nothing but Hispanic-type products.  While other WalMarts may not have such a large selection, if yours has a Hispanic foods section, that's where to look.


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## kitchenelf

FincaPerlitas said:


> Where do you get your Salsa Lizano?  Is it available locally in your area or do you order it?



I have never seen it locally.  I get it at a large store in Raleigh, North Carolina called A Southern Season.

And I made an omelet this morning drizzled with some!


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## PieSusan

I love the many different kinds of rice and bean dishes that I have tried. I adore the many different ways plaintains can be made. I love the different fruits and I don't find those dishes boring at all. I guess one takes one's own cuisine for granted.


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## marigeorge

I have plenty of achiote, I had a friend in Phoenix send me some and before I received it I found some in the city so bought, that too!


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## katshirley

Thank you for posting this recipe. We just returned from 2 weeks in Costa Rica and had this dish on several occasions. We were hungry for it, and when I tried your version the family thought it was the best they'd had.  I appreciate your efforts to put it together and hope you keep doing it with some of the other Costa Rican foods.


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## FincaPerlitas

katshirley said:


> Thank you for posting this recipe. We just returned from 2 weeks in Costa Rica and had this dish on several occasions. We were hungry for it, and when I tried your version the family thought it was the best they'd had. I appreciate your efforts to put it together and hope you keep doing it with some of the other Costa Rican foods.


 
I'm pleased that you tried it and liked it.  The other really famous (and delicious) afro-caribbean recipe that I'd like to translate and adapt for posting is a fish stew called "Rondon".  Have you tried it?

Unfortunately it calls for some ingredients that I'm not sure are available in the US, most notably breadfruit.  Does anyone know whether thay can be purchased at ethnic markets in the US?  

It also calls for a couple of South American yams, ñame and ñampi.  These are both varieties of true yams, not american sweet potatos.  There may be acceptable substitutes for these, or they could even be left out without seriously changing the recipe but I think the breadfruit is essential and there really aren't any similar substitutes.


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## Maverick2272

The Caribbean Chicken in coconut milk sounds pretty good!


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## amybug

*Share recipe with citation?*

This recipe is fantastic!!  I live in Costa Rica and have wanted to duplicate the Caribbean cooking I've tasted!  Would you be horrified to find that I added the tiniest bit of cocoa powder and loved it even more?  I'd love to share this with family and friends in a recipe compilation I'm putting together.  Do you mind if I copy and reference you?


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## Latin Lady

*What else do you use Salsa Lizano for?*

I have tried it on burgers, fries and eggs and of course Gallo Pinto. Salsa Lizano is a fixture in my pantry. Any other suggestions what to use it on?


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## babetoo

latin lady welcome to d.c.


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## Zhizara

Welcome to DC.


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## harryhaller69

Does anyone know the recipie for a blue tamale dish popular amongst the black Costa Ricans I met when I lived there called ' Blue Dras'? I'm not sure of the spelling,
but they were sweet blue tamales that were unbelievable.
More of a dessert.
Graciad


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## babetoo

harryhaller, welcome to d.c. sorry no info from me, per your question. betcha there is someone here that does know.


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## FincaPerlitas

amybug said:


> This recipe is fantastic!! I live in Costa Rica and have wanted to duplicate the Caribbean cooking I've tasted! Would you be horrified to find that I added the tiniest bit of cocoa powder and loved it even more? I'd love to share this with family and friends in a recipe compilation I'm putting together. Do you mind if I copy and reference you?


 

Sorry I didn't respond earlier. I've become inactive on the board and didn't see your request until today. You are more than welcome to share the recipe. That's why I posted it. I'm glad you had success with it.


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## pekasg

Can anyone tell me what type of red beans are used in Caribbean cooking?


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## pacanis

Pretty cool.
This thread originally ran The winter of 2009. Where it ran it's course 1/13/09.
Then it was revived 12/10/10, almost one year later, by someone who only made one post while here visiting DC...
Then it was revived again 1/11/11... by yet someone else who only made one post while doing her stint here. hmmm... And again, amost one year later... 

A little hubub that time. A few comments. Finca, the OP, came back. And then it fell dormant yet again. Only to be resuscitated yet again, this 27th day of February, 2014. Another cold... winter... day...

Coincidence? I think not. 

Can't help you on the red beans, but thanks for bringing this back. I only wish I could find the ingredients in some of the recipes. I would love to eat this.


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## KatyCooks

pacanis said:


> Pretty cool.
> This thread originally ran The winter of 2009. Where it ran it's course 1/13/09.
> Then it was revived 12/10/10, almost one year later, by someone who only made one post while here visiting DC...
> Then it was revived again 1/11/11... by yet someone else who only made one post while doing her stint here. hmmm... And again, amost one year later...
> 
> A little hubub that time. A few comments. Finca, the OP, came back. And then it fell dormant yet again. Only to be resuscitated yet again, this 27th day of February, 2014. Another cold... winter... day...
> 
> Coincidence? I think not.
> 
> Can't help you on the red beans, but thanks for bringing this back. I only wish I could find the ingredients in some of the recipes. I would love to eat this.



Hadn't spotted the dates Pac. But yes, the recipes look very interesting and tasty. Sadly, I can't make some of them either. (Plaintains are definitely not available in my neck of the woods.)


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## pacanis

No plantains in England. I will remember that.


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## Dawgluver

KatyCooks said:


> Hadn't spotted the dates Pac. But yes, the recipes look very interesting and tasty. Sadly, I can't make some of them either. (Plaintains are definitely not available in my neck of the woods.)



In a pinch you can sub out greenish bananas for plantains, Katy.


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## Zhizara

pekasg said:


> Can anyone tell me what type of red beans are used in Caribbean cooking?



I'm not positive about Caribbean, but in New Orleans red beans are kidney beans as in red beans and rice.


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## GotGarlic

pekasg said:


> Can anyone tell me what type of red beans are used in Caribbean cooking?



The recipe includes this information: "If small red beans aren't available, substitute red kidney beans or black beans."


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## PrincessFiona60

pacanis said:


> No plantains in England. I will remember that.



Or coconuts...


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## Mad Cook

pacanis said:


> No plantains in England. I will remember that.


You'd probably get them in West Indian shops in London Birmingham, Nottingham or Manchester (probably not the only places but those are the ones I've seen.)


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## Mad Cook

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Or coconuts...


Where did you get that idea, PF? We do have coconuts. Saw some the other day in the village greengrocer's shop.


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## Mad Cook

Zhizara said:


> I'm not positive about Caribbean, but in New Orleans red beans are kidney beans as in red beans and rice.


The W. Indian mum of one of the children I taught years ago told me to use red kidney beans. Not sure which island she came from as it's a long time since I knew her.

[I remember very few of "my" mothers but I remember Mrs Henry. Tall and "statuesque", stunning looking with almost blue-black complexion and a commanding presence, to put it mildly. We always tried to take her with us as a helper on field trips. She only had to look at a child who was misbehaving and it _shrank_! "Well, dear", she said to me one day "I have the advantage over you. I know all their mothers!" I don't know what it's like nowadays but back then in the 1980s it was the matriarch who ruled the roost in West Indian families - there was none of this namby pamby "Wait 'til your father gets home" nonsense!]


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## Mad Cook

Mad Cook said:


> You'd probably get them in West Indian shops in London Birmingham, Nottingham or Manchester (probably not the only places but those are the ones I've seen.)


Thinking
  back about this post it occurred to me that the aforementioned are all university towns with largish African student populations.


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## PrincessFiona60

Mad Cook said:


> Where did you get that idea, PF? We do have coconuts. Saw some the other day in the village greengrocer's shop.



Sorry, that was a Monty Python reference...  They slip out at odd times.


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## Mad Cook

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Sorry, that was a Monty Python reference... They slip out at odd times.


Aha! I see.

I didn't go much on MP so didn't pay much attention. It was a very poor spin off of "The Goon Show" (surreal radio programme with Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellars which ran throughout the 1950s). That sort of comedy relies on the "mind's eye" and doesn't really translate well to a visual medium.

"The Goon Show" is being re-run on BBC Radio 4 Extra at 8am on Tuesdays. I listen to it sitting up in bed and try not to choke on my first cup of tea of the morning!


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## Gravy Queen

We can of course easily get coconuts and plantains in the UK . Coconuts are easily available in supermarkets and plantains in Asian and Caribbean type shops. I love these type of shops specifically to hunt out different ingredients and try new recipes .


MC you forgot to mention Liverpool ....


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## buckytom

old bump.

has anyone used salsa lizano? what do you think of it? can you break it down for us?

also, anyone ever hear of the "blue dras" thing that was mentioned on page 2 or 3?


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