Costa Rica Cuisine

Cartago will show off complexities
of its cusine June 27

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

There is a lot more to the Provincia de Cartago Costa Rica than potatoes, and cooks of the communities will be out to prove this June 27.

The event is another of the culture ministry's efforts to capture the nation's traditions.

When most Costa Rican residents think of Cartago, the words chilly and potatoes leap to their minds. The province, centered around the Canton of Cartago is generally higher than communities in the Central Valley. Cartago itself at 1,435 meters is 274 meters (about 900 feet) higher than the bulk of San José.

That may be bad for sunbathing, but the weather is great for temperate vegetable crops, including the potato, carrot, onions and even the chayote. And these work their way into the area's traditional menus.

There are seven other cantons, La Unión, Jiménez, Turrialba, Oreamuno, Alvarado, El Guarco and Paraíso. Each has developed their own variations on food. After all, they have had plenty of time. Cartago was founded in the middle of the 16th century, and Spanish settled in the region due to the healthy climate. The city was the capital of Costa Rica until 1823.

The region is also known for its conservatism, so one can expect that the Spanish tradition will be a strong influence on the local foods.

The culture ministry's Centro de Investigación y Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural is putting on the contest in the Club Social de Cartago starting at 9 a.m.

The good part is that only a portion of the food contestants bring goes to the judges. The rest is offered to the public. Eventually the recipes will be compiled into a book as the centro has done with other sections of Costa Rica.

A similar event seven years ago in Costa Rica did have representative dishes of potatoes, including stuffed potatoes (papa rellena) and potato and cheese bread (pan de papa y queso).

But certainly there also will be pozol, that stick-to-the-ribs corn and pork soup or stew.

Contestants will compete in three areas, the main dish, dessert and drinks. There are money prizes for winners.