World cooking 7/200: Costa Rica
Casado & prestinos
Casado is a traditional Costa Rican dish that consists of a variety of potential components, but commonly includes rice, black beans, plantains, a choice of meat (usually chicken, fish, or beef), and a side salad. The name casado means "married man," and the dish originated from the practice of making a complete meal for married men to take to work - this being the largest meal of the day.
My casado included fried pork, plantains, pico di gallo, fried egg, gallo pinto, and a side salad. Gallo pinto, Costa Rica's acclaimed national dish, is made with rice and beans. Typically, in casado the rice and beans are left separate with gallo pinto eaten during breakfast, but since I was doing this as a big meal, I included the gallo pinto here.
I visited Costa Rica some years ago and loved the casados! I've made gallo pinto quite a few times since then as it's such a simple and tasty dish, but never made the full casado - but it was definitely excellent to recreate as it has so many great elements and is versatile.
For dessert, I made Prestinos. These are a popular Costa Rican dessert that are kind of similar in idea to donuts. Originating from ~16th century Spain, the Costa Rican variation is made with a dough that is fried until golden brown and crispy and are then covered with a honey syrup. I don't recall actually seeing or eating these when I visited, but then we usually just had fresh fruit! They were nice, but I don't think I quite replicated the texture somehow, as they were a little tough.
