An anti-GMO activist in San Francisco. Source: Wikimedia Commons In Costa Rica, the fight against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) deemed to be dangerous for the soil and thereby the ecosystem has been resolute and systematic. Over the last three years, The Costa Rica Star has been reporting on the fight against the use of potentially harmful transgenics in agriculture, particularly th...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Farmers and grocers in Costa Rica sometimes lament certain facts of free trade and globalization; to with: A significant portion of garlic, rice and even black beans, all staples of traditional cuisine in this country, are actually imported from China. Due to the agricultural economic background of Costa Rica, some may consider this to be a trade imbalance; however, s...

Source: DrinkBai.com In recent years, e-commerce giant Amazon has become the most efficient of Santa’s helpers. To wit: the company recently released amazing facts about its membership-based Amazon Prime service, which allows online shoppers to get lightning-fast deliveries, expedited service and enticing deals just in time for Christmas. It so happens that the last present delivered by Amazon...

Just when you though Starbucks could not come up with more recherché ideas for its cafes, the coffee giant is outdoing itself with the opening of its first Reserve® Roastery and Tasting Room, where java connoisseurs will be able to enjoy many things, including a Coffee Passion Projection Wall made of smart glass displaying images of coffee at origin on the company’s own farm in Costa Rica, which i...

Do you know about the slow food movement? In Costa Rica, one of the major practitioners of this holistic activity is the Finca Luna Nueva (New Moon) Lodge, located in San Isidro of Peñas Blancas. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Finca Luna Nueva Lodge is an organic and biodynamic farm involved in several activities that are essentially retooled from philosophies from long ago. &nb...

Quick-service restaurants (QSR) make up one of the most active and potentially lucrative business sectors in Costa Rica. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Tico consumers have an ongoing love affair with fast food, particularly when some level of novelty is involved. Enter Cosi, a United States-based restaurant chain specializing in the fast-casual dining segment. This company has gott...

Mr. DeNiro and Ms. Hightower. Source: Wikimedia Commons When it comes to celebrity endorsement, the world knows all too well about perfumes, colognes, clothing, and alcoholic beverages. It is no surprise that large catalog of celebrity-branded products would one day extend to coffee, and that day is now. From actors Leonardo DiCaprio to Hugh Jackman and from Bob Marley's son to legendary Aeros...

With the holidays right around the corner, people are scrambling to get thoughtful, high quality gifts for their loved ones and associates. Fine coffee from Costa Rica is shaping up to be a hot present under the holiday tree this year; a couple of months ago we reported on gourmet coffee from Tarrazu offered as an executive gift by J. Martinez & Company, this time we bring you this press relea...

In an era of Meatless Mondays and economic vegetarianism, more people in Costa Rica and around the world are thinking about reducing their meat consumption for several reasons. The health benefits are undeniable, but they have to be managed through the adoption of a reasonable nutritional plan, which means that suddenly cutting off all animal byproducts without proper guidance could create dietary...

The traditional seafood cocktail of Costa Rica is known as ceviche, but the Institute of Pacific Ports in Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: INCOP) insists on writing it as cebiche. Nonetheless, the INCOP, the National Tourism Board (Spanish initials: ICT) and Travel Show Expo have put together a weekend festival in celebrating this dish.   According to travel reporter Gianluca Boncompagni of...

From mid-September to late October, French coffee connoisseurs learned about how coffee shapes the lives of residents of Costa Rica through a special photographic exhibit. At La Caféothèque de Paris, located near the Pont-Marie, Saint-Paul metro station, coffee is extremely serious business, and it was here where the work of seven Tico photographers who focus on coffee-related subjects recently to...

The fictional character in The Specialist: The Costa Rica Job, written by Charles Peterson Sheppard, is based on the experiences of Phillip Sheppard, a former federal agent and reality television actor who is known for his work on the hit series Survivor. The Specialist happens to be fond of cooking Asian fusion recipes as well.   http://youtu.be/oiOHqCSJm6M...

The most emblematic and traditional dish of Costa Rica humbly consists of rice, beans, a few tasty vegetables, and spices. Gallo pinto is nutritious, delicious and easy to make; however, proper preparation is key. In a video recently shared by YouTube channel The Hot Dish, a beautiful and talented actress from Southern California uses the tried and true method of warming up the beans prior to addi...

They are traditional, delicious and chock-full of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. We are talking about chicharrones (fried pork rinds), and in Costa Rica they are associated with Christmas, the end-of-year holidays, town fair celebrations, block parties, and virtually anytime friends gather at bars. It is estimated that each portion of chicharrones (one medium-sized pork rind) conta...

  Source: Wikimedia Commons During a visit to the Caribbean region of Costa Rica in August, President Luis Guillermo Solis stopped in Puerto Viejo and explained his position on the lionfish (scorpaenid, from the genus Pterois): “This is a very aggressive species that goes after native marine life, which affects the local fishing economy.” According to Fabio Mena from online news daily...

Source: Andiamo La Facebook Timeline The list of celebrities who visit Costa Rica is growing, but they mostly seem intent on spending their time on the beach or in secluded locations far away from the telescopic lenses of the pesky paparazzi. Reports of celebrities spending time in the Central Valley are rare, which is why unexpected visits by Chris Hemsworth to restaurants in Escazu and Santa...

Shrimp Rice, Puntarenas Style Chef Doris Goldgewicht is one of the most arduous promoters of Costa Rica's traditional cuisine, which she feels has been neglected insofar as making it known beyond the national stage. This country has great potential to attract foodies and the special tourism segment of epicurean travelers in search of international delights; alas, Costa Rica is mostly known for...

Remember the film Chocolat, and how chocolate transformed a cold, inhibited French town into a loving, friendly community? Chocolate has that power. Prized by the Mayas, Aztecs and Inkas, and formerly kept only for royalty in Europe, chocolate was once considered so valuable that cacao beans were used for currency. In Costa Rica, indigenous tribes used cacao beans for currency for thousan...

Source: FANAL Some of the most popular and emblematic liquors made in Costa Rica are not readily available in other countries. Cerveza Imperial and Ron Centenario are not a problem in this regard; in fact, they are often sold at cheaper prices overseas. However, when it comes to Guaro Cacique and other fine products made by the government-owned National Distillery, they are hard to find outsid...

Source: Getty Commons The BBQ grilling season in Costa Rica coincides with the holidays and the beginning of the busy tourist season. Although there has been a recent push towards greater diffusion of outdoor grilling culture in Costa Rica thanks to events sponsored by Weber and the promotion of higher-quality cuts, skyrocketing beef prices are prompting many families in Costa Rica to put away...

The Republic of Costa Rica is divided into 81 cantons administered by municipal councils. Over the last few years, 74 of these municipalities have passed ordinances prohibiting the cultivation of transgenic crops and other genetically modified organisms (GMOs). That 90 percent of Costa Rica's territory is transgenic-free is a point of pride for anti-GMO activists; however, some legislators don't t...

Source: AnyStockPhoto.com In late 2012, Starbucks proudly introduced to the world its most expensive cup of coffee: $7 for a “grande” (tall cup) of Geisha grown at Finca Palmillera in the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica. Back then, Starbucks sold a half-pound bag of Finca Palmillera Geisha roast for $40. Meanwhile, at supermarket chains such as Pali and Jumbo, shoppers can find popular brands suc...

Source: Taco Bell US Yum Brands, the parent company of the popular fast-food chain Taco Bell, has recently been making headlines in both the United States and Costa Rica with the introduction of two new breakfast menu items. How does the curious breakfast Waffle Taco in the U.S. fare against the more traditional breakfast gallopinto burrito in Costa Rica? There is no question that Taco Bell...

Regional dish in Costa Rica. “Eat Well, Travel Better.” Such is the motto of the World Food Travel Association (WFTA), an organization that is considered the leading authority on food tourism. For more than 10 years, the WFTA has organized numerous food tourism trade conferences in various parts of the world, including Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, South America, and many others. C...

Source: Weber BBQ Fest The smell of marinated and grilled fine cuts of meat permeated the air this past weekend at the 2nd Annual Weber BBQ Fest in Costa Rica, which took place in the parking lot across from Nova, in the glitzy (and secretive) Avenida Escazu. This festive gathering of carnivores and culinary experts included more than just plates full of steak, ribs, sausage, chicken, fish, an...

Plate of Chicharrones in Costa Rica Quite a few tourists leave Costa Rica disappointed with what they perceive as a narrow range of culinary options. This feeling is exacerbated by the unwritten rule that every meal, from breakfast to late night snack, should feature some combination of rice, beans and corn tortillas. While this grain combination is ever-present in restaurants across the count...

In December 2013, La Creperie opened its doors in Playa Guiones, offering original French crepes to Nosara. The project was the idea of Franck Geers and is located 400 meters north of Delicias del Mundo supermarket, next to Hostal 4You. Geers says that the plates have a wide range of prices so that the food is accessible for all. Crepes start at 1,200 colones ($2.40) and the most expensive ones co...

Screen grab from YouTube In the wake of a recent article published by the Costa Rica Star, the editor reached out to Zach C. Cohen, author of From Costa Rica to Israel, an article published by New Voices that contained less-than-flattering remarks about the lovable city of San Jose. Mr. Cohen's reply was not quite pura vida, and thus here's our rebuttal, parodied from the 1990 film A Few Good ...

Campesino Bistro is a new restaurant and art gallery in Playa Guiones. For the project, they remodeled the old Casa Tucan location, re-using the most material possible. Marcelina Morcinek and Joseph Craig started cooking in Guiones two years ago with a catering service. Their food is made with organic vegetables from a private farm in Garza. The meat and chicken they use is raised in Nosara. ...

Source: Ballena Beer Fest Facebook As the microbrewery and craft beer scene in Costa Rica expands to the country’s coastal areas, new festivals and special events are being planned. The next major craft beer event will take place in the Osa Peninsula in February, and organizers are excited to showcase a range of fine brews and malt beverages. The First Annual Costa Ballena Beer Festival wil...

Oscar Morales convincing a customer to buy a product by using "mas o menos"This article is satire and designed to create conversation and humor amongst readers of the Costa Rica Star. Originally published on the ElPeji.com Blog. PLAZA VIQUEZ – Oscar Morales, a 20-year veteran of the Plaza Viquez feria in San Jose, finally cracked last week when he bravely became the first vendor in Costa Rican...

Carlos Ceciliano Lugo, Food and Beverage Manager for Croc's Casino Resort in Jaco Beach Costa RicaAccording to the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, there is no love sincerer than the love of food. In Costa Rica, food is a fresh, yet mostly utilitarian experience. This is something that Carlos Ceciliano, the new Food and Beverage Manager at Croc’s Casino Resort in Jaco Beach, is sworn t...

BBQ steak on a Weber gas grill in Costa RicaAs the dry season gets underway in Costa Rica, the smell of grilled cuts and barbecued meats permeates the air. “Carne asada” (grilled meat) is a tradition in many households after Christmas and for New Year's Eve, and it is the main dish offered at the food stalls of the Zapote fairgrounds, which recently wrapped up without fireworks. Grilling will con...

Samara Organics is a family business owned by Angelina and Steve Phillips, located in downtown Samara. It has been part of the “Natural Center” complex for two years now and recently moved to a different building on the other side of the complex across from its old location. The new location offers clients a larger and brighter space, which allows them to welcome more people, distribute better ...

When is beer and chocolate a good combination? When it takes place as part of the holiday festivities in Costa Rica. From December 20th to 22nd, the Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo, province of Limon, will be home to the 2nd Annual Chocolate Festival to be held at the Koki Beach Park. Craft beer will be one of the highlights of this festival, which will feature the introduction of a special brew th...

Manuel Briceño Jimenez opened Carnicería La Colonial in downtown Samara three months ago. In Nicoya, he has another butcher’s shop with the same name 300 meters from the Alfaro bus station. “Samara is a market we decided to enter because many customers we have in Nicoya told us to go to Samara. We wanted to cover that area and please our customers with a good product at the same prices as in Ni...

The Costa Rica Star has previously reported extensively on Craft Beer culture and local beer businesses in Costa Rica. If you're a beer drinker and have spent any time in Costa Rica than you know the selection is small. That was, at least, prior to the creation of Perrovida Craft Beer. As new kids in the Costa Rican brew scene, this underdog has come to play. Offering six full bodied, explosive...

Captain Daniel Espinoza on the 42ft Spanish Fly knows how to catch Dorado in volume! The Dorado are here! Not only is the Dorado – which most non-anglers will know as Mahi-Mahi – a tasty and popular item on the seafood menu; it is also a fierce and prized saltwater offshore gamefish, pound for pound one of the toughest to be found. Costa Rica’s Pacific coast is considered one of the world’s ...

The Costa Rica Star previously published about Gallo Pinto Day in Costa Rica. “¡Uy! ¡Ese es más tico que el Gallo Pinto!” (“He’s more Tico than Gallo Pinto!”) is an expression Ticos use when referring to someone inextricably Costa Rican, and sure enough, the Gallo Pinto is so engrained in our culture and tradition that it can be found on every person’s breakfast plate throughout our country. ...

My last guest article on The Costa Rica Star was about what to drink in Costa Rica. But, hey, we gotta eat too, right? So, this article will focus on 10 common Costa Rican foods that will have you eating like a Tico on your Costa Rica vacation. Enjoy! 1. Gallo Pinto – this is the signature Costa Rican dish. While it exists in other countries (Nicaragua, for instance), it is ubiquitous at the Ti...