Cooking Class

While at Veritas University, I decided to take the cooking class that they offered as an extra activity. It was 4 weeks, every Wednesday, and we made a different Costa Rican dish every week. The classes were taught in Spanish, although she knew some English and most of the directions were obvious since she could use actions. Also, most of us were in intermediate and advanced and understood what she was saying (or could help each other). We also got a recipe in Spanish for every meal that we made.

The first week, we made empanadas. We have an "empanada stand" in the main square at Veritas, but I had been afraid to try them, although many people said that they were good. So, I got to see what an empanada really was and help make them. An empanada is basically a meat/cheese filled breading, although the type of breading that we made was a mixture of flour and cheese and potato. It was really good! Basically, fried goodness. I look forward to making these with friends back home.

About to flatten the dough.

 Fried Goodness. Completed.

The second week, we made banana bread with cocoanut. The banana bread was really good, but I'm not a big fan of cocoanut. Next time I make it, I won't add the cocoanut. We put cinnamon and chocolate on top while it was still warm. The chocolate melted on top, enhancing the flavor. I can't wait until I get to make this recipe at home.

Doesn't this banana bread look delicious? 

Not anywhere near as delicious as when you add cinnamon and chocolate!

The third week we made Gallo Pinto. This is a Costa Rican and Central American staple: rice and beans. I have been eating this almost every day. The Ticos here eat it at every meal. At breakfast: eggs, toast, Gallo Pinto, and orange juice. For lunch: rice and beans (which is actually slightly different than Gallo Pinto, but a similar concept) with different types of meat, salad, and some type of fruit juice. Dinner is either rice and beans or Gallo Pinto with meat and fruit juice. In an area as tropical as Costa Rica that has such an abundance of fruits, who wouldn't want fresh fruit juice every day? I know I am enjoying it a lot!

The Gallo Pinto was delicious! An interesting fact: the rice has to be cooked the day before it is used in order to be dry enough to absorb the extraneous juices from the beans. What makes a good Gallo Pinto is the spices that is used. That can be the difference between 5 star Gallo Pinto and eatable Gallo Pinto. And we made 5 star Gallo Pinto in class.

First, chop ingredients. Then, mix them. Finally, eat.

Eat. My favorite part. Especially when you add Tico Cheese!

My last and final day we made a sort of enchilada casserole. It was delicious! She took a few large, fresh tomatoes, removed the cores, then put them into a blender with part of an onion. This mixture looked a lot like liquidy ketchup, which we later realized was exactly the point. It was a tomato sauce for the top of the casserole. We cooked beef in a skillet using oil to ensure that it did not burn and also cooked onion. A few spices were added to the mixture, then it was removed from the burner. A large number of corn tortillas were filled with the meat mixture, rolled, and placed in a cake pan. The tomato sauce was poured on top and cheese and nutilla (their sour-cream like sauce) was put on top. Finally it was placed in an oven so the cheese could melt. We finished the meat mixture while waiting for the casserole to finish warming.

Finally, Bon Apetite! Time to eat the casserole.

I was ready to eat the casserole before we put it into the oven.

I was even more ready after it came out. I'm getting hungry just thinking about this meal.

 

This course is offered every week, and was a joy to take. I liked learning about all the different Costa Rican dishes, cooking them, eating them, and getting the chance to make them again at home with the recipe. It was also really nice getting to know the cooking class teacher. She is really nice and really passionate about cooking. If you arrive a few minutes early or stay a few minutes later, you'll get some time to practice your Spanish while talking with her. I look forward to making each one of these dishes for friends and family when I come home in a few weeks!