Week 4

Week #4

When talking to my family about this week’s topic I already had an idea of what their answers would be, and for the most part I was correct.  In regards to eating out my family said that going out to eat was a rare occasion for them.  I had guessed this was the case because in the entire time that I have been here they have never eaten out.  One night they had take out because we were late to get home, but that was the only time.  They said that it would usually be for a special occasion when they eat out, or it would be because they were in a hurry and would not have time to cook.  However, my mom said that for many special occasions they stay in.  She explained that many of the special occasions in Costa Rica are in the form of a fiesta, which usually take place at a person’s home, so the food was home cooked.  While, she said that eating out was usually an exception for her family she did knowledge that her daughters liked eating out more than her.  She said that on weekends they would often go out for dinner instead of eating at home with their parents.  I have also noticed the girls eat leftovers out the refrigerator when they did not like what their mom made for dinner.  This made me conclude that they must get take out food often for lunch or on the weekends.

My family confirmed my thought that the popular types of restaurants in the Costa Rica are in fact small sodas.  My family said that when they did eat out they like to go to sodas that offer typical Costa Rican foods.  My mom also admitted to liking some of the fast food chains such as Taco Bell.

As far as foreign restaurants are concerned my mom has a strong opinion.  She explained that they have been becoming more and more popular in the last few years.  She also expressed that she is not in favor of them.  She, and the rest of my family, personally views the foreign restaurants in a very negative light.  They believe that the addition of all of these foreign restaurants takes away from typical Tican food, and they are not happy about that. 

It was very interesting to learn a little more about my family’s views on different types of restaurants here in Costa Rica.  Their responses to my questions just prove how much food means here in Costa Rica.  They take pride in typical Tican food, and even prefer it when they are going out.  I also could not help but to tie in the family values to their preference to eat at home instead of going out.   

This week’s photo assignment was really interesting.  My pictures were taken at Taco Bell, a local soda that is on my way home from Meso, and a small hole in the wall Italian/pizza place. Each of these restaurants differed from one another in multiple ways.  As well as differing from one another, they also differ greatly from the equivalents of these restaurants in the United States. 

We all know about the popularity of fast food restaurants.  We also know that in the past few years many different fast food restaurants have been incorporated into the food options of Costa Rica.  However, the United States fast food restaurants are not the same in Costa Rica as they are in the United States.  In this Taco Bell that we visited there are some of the same types of foods, however they all have something extra on them.  For instance, a regular taco has beans on it, which is not the case in the US at all.  There are also more vegetables included on most of the food items than there are in the US.  Another difference that I found to be very different from our Taco Bell’s in the US is the combo option.  Here in Costa Rica a combo consists of the main item, plus a drink and fries.  I thought that this was so crazy because in the US a Taco Bell combo usually contains the main item, and a drink.  It was crazy to see the difference in the Taco Bell’s here and ours at home.  However, the differences made sense to me after I thought about some of the conversations that our class has had about fast food restaurants here in Costa Rica.  I figured that they might use locally grown vegetables, which would explain the excess of vegetables, and the fries.  They have taken some of the staples of Taco Bell, but put a Tican emphasis on it.

The small soda serves typical Costa Rican foods that you could get at any other soda in town.  It is a very small soda where you order and receive your food at the counter then sit in the very small eating area.  It is very interesting to me that this is the typical type of restaurant in Costa Rica.  If we think about the US this set up almost resembles a small dinner or café, instead of our typical restaurants like Olive Garden, Outback, Applebee’s, or TGI Friday’s.  However, when I think about the family owned Italian/pizza place it also reminds me of a small family owned dinner or café in the US.  The service at both of these restaurants is very similar.  You order and then sit down.  In both of the restaurants you will find all fresh ingredients, and you know that the food is made fresh.  This is something that is a direct contrast from our regular restaurants in the US.  Most of them are chains, and have to buy food in bulk, meaning that it is frozen prior to preparation.  However, here you can tell all of the food and ingredients are as fresh as possible, an aspect certainly due to the massive quantities of fresh ingredients all throughout Costa Rica.  While I do enjoy restaurants in the US, I know that when I go back I will have a hard time going back to “bought in bulk” ingredients.

I think that this is one of the most interesting things about Costa Rica.  No matter what type of restaurant you visit, at least portions of their ingredients are local and fresh…even in their fast food chains.  It is an amazing sight to see, and it makes me wish that good options in the US were more of the same way.