Yes I Think one of the great things is you kind of just mix everything together. Oh man I Love it! This is like all of your essential nutritional needs all on one plate. I'm in San Jose Costa Rica And today I'm taking you on an ultimate Costa Rican Food tour. It's like Seviche orange juice with floating chips.

Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day! It's Marqueen! I'm in San Jose This is the biggest! It's the capital city of Costa Rica in Central America and Costa Rica As you probably know is known for its incredible nature, but it also has incredible food. That juice is so good we need this. It helps with the digestion. The Empanada that I made my first ever Empanada Cheers Costa Rica Man and so today I'm meeting up with my friends Jason and Samantha from Myan Fe and we are going to take you on an ultimate Costa Rican Food Tour.

We're going to eat some of the greatest foods that you don't want to miss when you visit. Costa Rica Jason Hey yes! Ready for the food tour today? Samantha Yes from Myan feet. Thank you guys for arranging everything. No problem man, thank you! Nice to meet you.

He just like you. He just eats a lot but still SS we still don't know how they do So the nickname of San Jose The capital city of Costa Rica is Chpe, so a lot of the San Jose citizens will call them chapos. Or if you're like coming from Guan to San Jose say I'm going to Chpe and that I'm to San Jose Okay and is it is it also uh, people from or Costa Rican people are also called Tikos. Oh yeah, so the nickname of Costa Ricans is Tikko for man Tika for a woman and it comes from they say it's because in Costa Rica when they talk everything is likeo like you know.

So they they talk like that so it kind of comes from from that. Ah okay okay, great to know. Yeah we are starting in Downtown San Jose This is one of the most busy walking streets in the city and we're first where we're going to begin. Where we're going to start eating is the Mercado Central in San Jose the Central Market One of the most vibrant places to learn about the ingredients and also to eat traditional Costa Rican food.

Love the colorful entrance of the market, the murals, the paintings, and uh, one of the things about the market is that it opens up at 9:00 a.m. and so we got here just a little bit before 9:00 a.m. so things are just starting to open now. People are starting to lift up their shutters to reveal all the ingredients.

well actually closeth and colorful things. So far, we're here immediately to get started eating. So this is a herb shop. The interesting thing is that when you get to these herb shops in the market right ER, there's no mix.

There's no difference in between. Like a farm that ocidental medicine cooking herbs. It's like the esoteric with a natural medicine. So you're going to see a lot of different hers around that you may know others you don't but all of them have H Different purpose for our ancestors.

Medicinal value also medicinal value Luck money. Love Bus recipe re Eny so you meet seven Herms and you bait with them H Like made bats and in theory you're going to get what you're looking for. Okay Frco mot mot. Oh, we're going to drink that one.

Yeah, what what benefits will we get from that one? H They are pretty good for the stomach Al and all the digestive system. So what they do is that they smash H the the small sticks. then they put it here with water and you need to wait for a few hours. Usually they put it at night and so they ready in the morning.

They release a kind of a fluid that they say is good for your stomach, especially when you are when you have a hangover or something. They say this is great, great so and it's good for for any kind of of problems with with your stomach. This is great. Can you see The texture is Very.

It's kind of thick. It almost thick. exactly. Here we go.

First beverage. uh and you can. just as he's pouring it you can actually see the texture the the thickness of it. M M Yeah, it's almost jelly.

Like a melted jelly in texture. Oh, it's really good. lightly sweet, Nice. It's not actually like very medicinal like you might think.

It doesn't have a bitterness to it, it's just nice, pleasant, slightly sweet, and yeah, literally like melted jelly. Really good. And this is going to kind of be the coating of our stomachs. For all the food that's to come, we need this.

It helps with the digestion. I Have never tried this. No, never. Okay, so it's good.

It's good, So to be the only one, right? Okay, yes. EXC Cheers Cheers Cheers Salude Sal Salud That's nice cuz it's not too sweet. Yeah, Yeah, exactly. It's like mellow sweet.

This is one of the most famous sodas in Central Market especially on on Fridays Like today, it's full in the morning because many people not only eat here, but they call to deliver to to their places. A lot of banks, for example, we very close cost R Bank National Bank So they call and they bring the talapin which is what we're going to try to the to the bank. I Mean when you think about Costa Rican Food This might be one of the most famous dishes, one of the national dishes of Costa Rica and is it typically eaten for breakfast or anytime of the day? Well, in my case I Eat it. I Can eat it three times a day, Three times a day.

Anytime anytime like morning, have lunch, coffee time, or dinner. Yeah. Awesome! This place is absolutely incredible. I Love I Mean you just look at the AES in the kitchen and you immediately know you can trust them with all your Costa Rican Food needs the experience.

The look on their faces. They know what they're doing. This place is incredible. They're kind of.

they're cooking everything on spot. There's a bar counter, there's a seating section behind, and just they're serving up a lot of food. And this is where we're going to try our first dish. Ginto.

Prepare it, Assemble it. The GTO starts with I think it's their unique version is where they start with an omelette as the base on the Banana Leaf that's incredible. An omelette then goes on the classic uh, Costa Rican rice and beans. Then there's a type of stew and then I think you can kind of maybe customize a little bit.

There's some sausages, uh, then finally goes on a fried plantin and a tortilla all the way on top. and then they wrap it in a packet. the Banana Leaf This, this is yours. Oh thank you.

Yes, so it has arrived. This is absolutely beautiful. I Love the action in here, the energy, just people all around shouting all about the food, all about the ginto. So you can get all these different toppings on it.

There's probably like half a dozen different toppings that you can choose from, but but what makes a real Ginto? What is what are the essentials? Just the rice and beans for sure. You get the rice and beans, you get the eggs and a a Tor or bread. For me, that was the that's that's the basic Gu open though from there, especially this place you can get anything you. The good thing about place is U You can ask for more toppings but you can see this one.

This one is a traditional. this is more of a simple simpler version. Okay, and what we put on top is the Chila because we like spicy. Okay so that's a pickle pickle with with chili.

Okay, the reveal the tortilla on top, the lid on top. I Love the base. The Omelette the tomato with beef, the the sausages. What a Oh and this is actually cheese.

That's cheese. Okay, okay I think I just want to go in for some of that. Rice First, isn't that good, right? Oh, the rice and beans and the saltiness of that and the beefiness of that beef. tomato e stew.

Yeah, it's so good. Oh that's like ultimate food. Oh man. I Love it.

I'm going to add some of this chileta over here. Oh yeah, this looks incredible. Oh do you want to try some of that fried cheese? I Think one of the great things is you kind of just mix everything together. All of the sausage, oh even the base omelette on the bottom.

Oh wow, what a dish! That cheese has an incredible springiness to it and I love it with that that sauce, the acidity, the flavor of the maybe habanero or the chili in there, the fuess. oh man, this is like all of your essential nutritional needs all on one plate. This is not very normal for breakfast. okay, but it's good for you to try it because it's very good.

It's very and that's potatoes mixed into a kind of like half mashed yeah, they just it up and squares and they just season it okay like chop saut, vegetables okay, or things like potato for example. oh man, so good. and then the sausage we call it Salon saon. Yeah, the reason why it's so popular is because it's not that expensive.

Okay, so it's very affordable and everyone can eat it, you know? and it looks like it's fried. kind of like withered up a little bit. kind of crispy. kind of like, um, soft and tender.

M that kind of like wraps it all together I Love it with that sprinkle of chileta. That chileta, just like really brings out the flavor. Absolutely delicious, comforting, homecook. So good.

The most popular drink here is KAS and this is a Costa Rican Guava m M has a perfect sourness sweetness. M It's really refreshing. One of those dishes where the sum of everything together yeah is what really makes it all coming together. all of those flavors mingling together I mean you can find a Harmony different versions of Ginto in different part of the country like this is.

I Would say that this is an excellent representation of the San Jose Ginto. okay um we might take you later to different places so you can try it. but yeah this is um good. You know it's like a mix of different flavors.

lot of energy definely lot of energy. Man thatto was so good. What a dish! What a way to get started on this. Costa Rican Food tour and washing it down with this juice.

the cost the is it's so this is one of the most refreshing juices I think you could possibly drink what a combination in the past Costa Ricans didn't have like a lot of candies that came to the country so they made most of the candies and one it's like this it's like grapefruit and they like com okay bake it with sugar. Okay so this is what we're going to. Nice. It's a very traditional candy sweet and it has that bitterness of the skin as well that gives it a nice contrast.

Oh yes you love it. Same one but fed with condensed milk. This one is crunchier. You taste the the creaminess of the milk powder.

This is a coconut. Yep, okay. and then the final one is a coconut. Coconut Sweet.

M That's just straight up like desiccated dried coconut. candied. Sweet. Coconuty? Yeah.

all very good. We're at the next place to eat a special type of Ceviche but this is going to be a a totally unique version s it's a little more like a little sweeter so it has some we had sometime orange juice we use lemons that are sweeted from the area and sometime even Ginger and it so it'swe than the yeah than other SES and we are going to eat one that is called CA It's like we put it in the bag of chips. so the thing is that in palmares that it's an area of Al around the airport and there were some children that they wanted s but didn't have any money. so they buy a a bag of chips and they ask the guy from a restaurant that called the 4y to put like the stock of the saich in the chips so that's howas were made.

Share Gracias oh wow you can just feel how heavy it is cuz you added in so much of that juice it's cold. feels like soup in a bag. This is such a cool story how it was invented and I mean kids with a bag of chips couldn't afford the full Ceviche so they just wanted that juice the juice of the cevich at the bottom to cover the chips. What a what a genius invention and when he hands it to you it's so cold because the cevich is on Ice It's so cold it feels like a bag of feels like a water bed.

It's just bloated with all of that juice. What do you try to do here? Samantha Do you try to get some of the cich and some of those chips? Exactly? Yeah! I Have like this I'm going to reach down. Dig deep I got a good de dig deep. Oh here we go.

Yep, y there you go. Okay, there you go. Almost there. All right.

All right, All right, nice. that's a good s that's awesome. It's so cold, so refreshing. And even though the chips have been sitting in this the ciche juice for a minute or so, it's still crunchy.

super crunchy. They're still crunchy. Such a great Crunch And the flavor is nice. like a nice compliment to the ciche it is.

It is the ciche. You taste a lot of onions in there. the fish. a lot of onions, some cilantro, some like red peppers.

Yeah, so the chips give such a good contrast in the flavor, right? Definitely. And then this type of fish in thee is mahimahi as they call here tastes. So Fresh So Fresh So Clean So refreshing. I Think you can drink it right out of that? Oh yeah, all that juice.

So good. Okay, but we need to season a little bit. pickles. Oh there's even cauliflower in here.

Nice. Go in. This one is more of a just a straight chili chili water. I Like it That is the most refreshing bag of chips you'll ever eat.

Oh it's so I mean it's actually could be a beverage. You can drink it. it's a snack. This is genius.

Oh I mean it's like Seviche orange juice I with floating chips. Love it. Okay and from here we're going to try another delicacy. I mean it's something extremely unique.

Oh check it out, have a basket going up. There's so many total scum there. so many so what they so the so what the community do is um they found a way to legalize the cell and consumption of Total LS So you have a bunch of professionals doing all these studies so they said okay we're going to have Let's say like a th xeg, it's more than that. but 500 EG are going to be destroyed so the law allowed them to to You know to sell 500 to local consum.

It's so many turtles it's called Mass nestings. This is one of seven in the world where the olive releas sea turtle come to nest and it's literally like 50,000 Turtles all in like one day. So the first wave of turtles their nesto get D like dug up destroyed, eaten by dogs, vultures or whatever. So that's why the community found a way to, you know, make some income from it.

and it's also something that's probably been eaten for. Oh yeah, a long time in this in this area right is based on their diet. It's based on our diet. The indigenous diet in Costa Rica probably correct the this kind of salsa.

Oh okay. every place they have their own recipe, he'll crack it into it. Oh, he's taking it. They're like little ping pong balls.

Allow them to collect them. Okay, they are going to get destroyed. So here it is. Surfed the turtle eggs which again, this is totally sustainable and these eggs would actually just be destroyed.

They wouldn't make it anyways. Uh, so it's a totally sustainable practice and it's legal. It's um, and it's a delicacy here. And so he mixes in this kind of tomato juice.

lemon spices. They have their own secret recipe for this. kind of like a tomato juice with spices. and then he cracks in two eggs which is mostly just Yol Whoa, it's a big mouthful.

Oh that juice is so good. tomatoey. You taste some pepper in there, the lime juice, and then those eggs. They kind of have this membrane around them so they kind of like they're kind of like jelly and then they kind of like pop and kind of like ooze out with the yoiness.

They have a really nutty flavor to them as well that's really good. and within that almost like a tomato juice soup. that just that's refreshing. That was.

That was an experience. Oh that was that was good. This place it's called bit named after their daughter. They're so friendly.

They're so nice they wouldn't even charge us for that Incredible food. So come check them out when you're in the market here. Ceviche Turtle eggs. Uh, another variety of salads and pickles and things like that.

but they're extremely friendly. Highly recommended. That was a unique experience that was delicious. And is it so They only have one flavor? Only one flavor? Yeah, that's really in more than 100 years and only one flavor? Yeah, they serve this amazing sorbet.

one flavor that stood the test of time. You don't need to make any decisions here. You come in here, you get it. It's always busy and it's a recipe that has proven its success.

Spices: Oh oh that's so good. Oh, it has this vanilla taste to it. Maybe a hint of clove and nutmeg in there. almost tastes banana e the fru of it despite kind of tasting almost banana.

There's No Bananas All it is is just cream and all the spices, but just perfect harmonious blend of spices. It's not overly sweet, it's icy, it's cream creamy. It's refreshing. It sort of starts to melt.

This is one of those things that on your first bite I mean you can just realize why it's so popular, why it brings back so many memories. It's so distinct. It's flavor. It's so distinct.

Oh, is it like a milk powder? Yeah. I Milk Milk powder? Yeah. Condensed milk wo yes. Another thing that they make here I Mean the ice cream is just one flavor or the sorbet is just one flavor.

But they do also have some other things and one of the things is called a Copo Copo and he wanted me to just taste a little bit. Uh ice goes in shaved hand, shaved ice, some kind of a syrup, then milk powder, and a lot of condensed milk. You kind of kind of Stir It Around Wow that's sweet but it is refreshing. Oh and youve got the the powdered milk which kind of like mixes creaminess into the ice as it starts to melt giving this richness to it and all the condensed milk that is sweet but refreshing.

From here we are, we still have a lot more to eat. We're continuing on with this uh Costa Rican food tour and we're going to another market and we are emerging from the market and a different exit that we came into. uh the busy Streets of San Jose This is a real business market area even. I mean outside of the market you can pretty much buy anything you're looking for for.

We're coming to the wholesale the fruit and vegetable market and then he has a nice selection. a beautiful selection. They have amazing fruits in Costa Rica So we're going to try a couple of seasonal fruits. Okay Graas Graas just coming into the bottom of the market here.

This is the wholesale fruits, vegetables. so many colors, so many ingredients, natural produce and um well I Love the chilies which they call Chile Panamania the Panamanian chili uh but then also the KAS that's that. Remember that green juice we had an hour ago. uh with the the gaop pinto that is the fruit that's the Costa Rican guava that makes that juice.

You want to try the other fruits here. type of water apple or similar to a rose Apple seasonal in Costa Rica delicious sour sweet. It is really watery. so much juice comes out it a little bit chalky, almost cottony in your mouth as well.

And then we also got some of theot Okay so here it is. This fruit is called hot and you can eat them green. You can eat them yellow, ripe into different stages I Have had them green before but I don't think I've ever had the ripe one. uh green with with salt and chili on it.

but this one is the ripe version. Oh that's so good. Oh man. Almost a similar flavor to Mango but more milky, more milky with a hint of a bitterness.

It literally is so sweet and creamy it almost tastes like candy. It is natural candy. Wow that's mind-blowing flavor. Uh straight up sweet.

Almost has a caramel taste to it. So this is like the paradise of Vin Yeah really? I haven't seen like this variety of Vin in any other place. yes and Roberto called him the King of beans We have arrived. This is the perfect place to just understand the importance of beans in Costa Rica and let me tell you he can fulfill all of your bean dreams and I do love beans.

every Bean you could possibly want is available here. So the next part of the Central Market or the distribution Market here is the plantin the bananas. again hugely important in Costa Rica from the Caribbean coast uh bananas of All Sorts are just incredibly widespread. Huge part of the of the local food wo my God the banana is huge wo this one is called a banana CYO it is might as well we'll try it right here in the in the banana distribution.

Oh yeah that's a great banana. actually a perfect banana. Sweet and creamy, great texture, hint of sourness. So this is Super Cholo Higante.

It started as a super higante because he used to be like a grocery store. Then they decided to start selling some drinks and at the end they switch from a grocery store to a bar and restaurant. So they have a lot of Bas You know Bas is like Tapas or snacks. They are famous here here.

You can come for a karoke night on weekends sometime they have dancing and I don't know. It's a very unique place and now it's called Super Cholo Gante because Cholo is the owner. Uh that's how that's why they changed the name. Yeah, check out all these surrounded by mirrors and it's such a cool environment.

So friendly and it's just like bar counter after bar counter lining this entire place of people. like, uh, get rub shoulders, hang out with friends, meet new people, Socialize here we go. All right man. Jason First Cheers Costa Rica Man All right Salude Salud I Feel it's very good.

very cold crisp. Oh it's so refreshing. Oh that's so good. Oh yeah.

excellent. Okay we're going to go into the kitchen. We're going to see some of those dishes being prepared before we eat them. Food is too much traditional and always put too much e for in what want the people and that's the more traditional dishes here.

All right, that's the cow talk I Had that's the pig feet. Okay cow tongue, pig feet and Mong um tripe tripe I think right or stomach stomach stomach stomach. Okay this is a great kitchen. They have some incredible I mean Costa Rican comfort food home-cooked like dishes.

So they have a bunch of stews going. They have a tongue stew which he said is the owner said is one of the most popular dishes here. One of the best sellers. They have a pigs foot stew, they have a stomach stew, then there's a variety of bean dishes, There's a variety of soups and then one of the main dishes that they're known for is the Cho and it's a Costa Rican dish invention combination that starts off with rice.

then she adds a scoop of beans. then she adds some fried pork. Then she adds a scoop of tomatoes. uh kind of like a p Deo with tomatoes with onions with I think there's some cilantro I think there's some lime juice in it Scoops that on top with avocado on the top and she puts some chips around it.

What a dish! Okay Papa two tortillas. Okay the the name Costa Rica I you because you put the tortilla you put the tongue and it's smashed potato. put it all together in the Tor yes and you need to to eat with your hands and and eat like like this because it's like I got you and I love The flavor in your mouth are incredible I Love it. Awesome thank you very much You're welcome.

Okay I think we're ready to go eat. We're here for the different Bas Really it looks so good. Okay Steve let's show us how to do the GAO So you put the mashed potatoes, you put some of the tongue make like this. Okay there we go.

I Love yes you add in some smashed mashed potatoes, you add in a piece of a piece of tongue, some of the juices. the sauces game. Cheers Che Cheers! That's good. Wow Mhm oh man.

now now why I mean I don't understand why they sell it so much, right? It's an experience that is an experience in your mouth. Yes it's so tender. the mash potato just give it that special coach I was I was not expecting. Yeah amazingly the mashed potatoes.

You know mashed potatoes can be starchy and heavy, but these are really light. very very creamy. actually flavor like a yeah that's very You got the like. the the tongue has just been brazed for so long that it's just melt in your mouth.

It's kind of a sweet and sour sauce. It's so good. Delicious. This what a dish.

Rice on the bottom, beans, tomato, onions, avocado. Let's go in. fried pork, all the fried pork. and do you remember the beans that we you saw on the market? Add some CH some of Chila Graas oh wow what a dish! Oh man.

the Lme part is yes. the fried crispy pork, the creamy beans, the rice, the acid of the lime juice, the onions, all of that together in your mouth. Oh it's so good and you can even eat it with chips. the juices, the crispy pork that is delicious.

Is this something that's very common? Yeah man, you have to always yeah to to eat it with a beer. Yeah so this is super common in every bar restaurant that you go. Okay I love that contrast of the acidity of the lime juice and the the tomatoes with the rich fried pork, the beans, the rice and the juiciness of it. Okay so we have some deep fried chiso here.

Oh I Love how it's like popping out. kind of like oozed out of that's wrapping deep fried. You take the tortilla I take the chizo and I just oh man. and is it? Is it a certain type of chizo? Pretty much this is 45% H meat.

and the rest. This is fat. Okay, okay, that's why it tastes so good. Why? it tastes so good.

You can add tomatoes and stuff too though if you want. Yeah, yeah yeah okay. I think I might add some of the these tomatoes to it. some of the tomatoes and cabbage.

Oh this is like their own special choriso sausage blend that is. Oh man that's so good. It's so crispy I love it with that squeeze of citrus that kind of has a that's the one we cross between a lime and a tangerine. Yeah so it has a a sweetness to it but a real sourness as well.

Oh man, it's really garlicky garlicy. You get the garlic in that too. Yeah, and the reason why it get so crispy is because it's the real intestines right? Okay yeah, that's why when they deep fry it kind of Pops open. Correct.

yeah. kind of squirts out. the meat. kind of squirts out of the casing.

No. along with the fat. Yeah, the ratio 60% fat. Wow.

so good is amazing. Next dish this is the pork knuckle. Kind of like a soup or a stew. Oh you can see already the collagen starting to form at the top.

This is very rich in collagen. Look at the the whole hoof is in here. I'll take this one right here. I'm going to na that that hoof.

Oh the collagen. Well the fat. yeah it's really really tender. really jiggly.

Really good. Really like pure tasting served with rice. Oh and it's also served with some of those yeah those lemons. It's thick like a gravy and that's all natural just from the collagen and the fat coming out as it's stewed down and boiled for hours and hours until it becomes tender like this.

Rich It's really rich but they do add a little bit of cilantro or something to to kind of like Theo is break that break that porkiness. broth is really good. Oh man that is insanely tender. This is like as Porky as you can get.

There's few things porkier in life than Pig knuckle. The next dish pork skin and a bean soup. Oh these beans. Look Oh make sure you get a piece of pork skin some of the bean.

The beans. Wow that's like thick bacon. Cheers Man the texture of the beans. This is the this beans.

They're so creamy and I had a piece of that pork skinned fat that just melts in your mouth. Man, it disintegrates, it liquefies, you don't need to chew it, It's so good. So much flavor. Actually softer than butter? Yeah yeah they are.

Those are straight up like butter beans. Yeah Wow. Oh man. and I Love beans.

We met the King of beans and this is the king of beans in a bowl actually served with rice. Which also that mean that it makes the the perfect compliment. the perfect. Costa Rican Marriage of beans and rice.

The texture is so good. Oh these beans just melt in your mouth. Wow those are fried beans. Oh yeah.

Oh I haven't used the some of the Chila Well this is some of the biggest Chila we've seen. Yeah, whole pieces of cauliflower, carrots and cucumber. Yeah, that's cucumber. Yeah, so big.

yeah. I'm going to get some of more beans and I put some piece off man. So up until this point we've seen a lot of Chila that's really like quite. uh fine.

like small pieces shredded. That's why the name is the Cholo higante. I mean it used to be Higante, so probably that's why giant everything's Giant M M Mhm Wow really nice. Yeah, really vinegary, sour, acidic.

Oh yeah, that's delicious. Chili chili water okay Salud oh yes, do think excellent yeah, like it. tomato e a little bit spicy, salty, salty and sweet. Oh very nice.

Very nice. Almost like a bloody Mary. Yeah, exactly very like a bloody Mary. Very very s excellent.

Excellent. And now you need to try the gas. Okay, let the gas. So this is the same drink that we had earlier at the with the ginto exct it's the guava has gu sugar and some spice I think okay thank you okay no thank you.

What a day What a day Salud What a day Salud Enjoy is it the first time I dry it refh refreshing and salty great yeah little sour yes oh man that seemed like really ripe guava flavor to it. So when do when do people eat empanadas in the pop the whole day but especially after they leave job and when they are going to take the the public transportation we we can cross here yes they before before taking the bus. It's very common to go to to for an empanada and in the morning also before going to the job. This is some of the best empanadas in San Jose It's very common when you go to an empanada place you you ask for an imp it's in Costa Rica it's they put some Colo Colo exactly Colo and sauce like ketchup and mayonnaise and some other things so if you like we can try that and you can see how they prepare that.

So this place serves more than empanadas but we got got the special Empanada fully loaded Costa Rican style. We also got some corn chips fully loaded again with ketchup and minies squirted all over them. and then we also got a plant in which it's like formed into a boat and with melted cheese in the center. So Alex How do we? How do we dig into the Empanada What's the? what's The strategy is going to be yours, right? Grab it, Grab it.

Okay, so you so it's going to be. Open it up so it's like a half a bag There, it conveniently opens up and so it is. What's what's unique about Empanada Here is it's made from corn. It's deep fried with your choice of filling on the inside.

We got the pork because it was ready cooked. um and then when you order it, they slice it in half. he adds in KLA ketchup mayonnaise. So this is like ultimate snack food on the go.

Fast food, easy to eat, filling and tasty. Anda Oh yeah, Oh yeah, that's tasty. Wow, that's a lot of Minis And ketchup. It's crispy.

Yes, it's crispy. It's hearty. You got the freshness of the cabbage in there. Definitely needs some.

Chalo How many? How much that's good? Yes. okay. I Know you like spice there. We go with that added vinegar.

that acidity. Really good. Okay, let's try the next thing. Grab a chip, ketchup and minis.

So what? What's the story behind? It's more like this: a snack for the children's. like they buy them pretty cheaply and they gave you them to you in like paper bags with a lot of sauce. I was like the cheap snack to buy in your neighborhood. Awesome, that's why.

Nice and crispy theas that much. Excellent. This is a plantain so they usually bake it. Okay, so P the plantain they sometimes leave in with the the skin.

they just open it in half and put a lot of cheese. Awes! Sometimes we even put like car caramelized sugar with okay with a little cinnamon on it and it's amazing. Okay, so it's almost can be sweet and savory. It's like kind of like AER Ro Okay, all right, go, let's go in.

that's a lot of cheese. Yeah, the plant in you can see like sugar coming out of it. It's so sweet and ripe. all right with the cheese in the center.

It's crunchy. Yeah oh man, it's so sweet, gooey, cheesy, that contrast between sweet and savory. Okay. and then the root beer.

Cheers! Alex Che It's like an yeah between these are some of the ultimate snacks. Something okay, they going to. they're going to allow me to make my own. Empanada Let's see how this goes.

Okay I Think we're good to go? All right. So you have the ball of Masa then you smash it, smash it into a circular tortilla shape. Oh, they have probably a dozen different toppings that you could add. Mozzarella Mozzarella.

Okay, okay, okay up to me up to me. Okay, let's see. Okay Graas! I'm going to go for some of the I think this is some of the meana which I think is a beef, it's beef mixture I'm going to go for this Okay, okay all right. stick it right in the center there.

okay I guess I'll go for some of the the chichon as well. All right, little bit of the beans am I overfilling it, a little bit of cheese. Okay, there we go I think we're good. So we we fold it over all squeezing in the doings and then close the edges, press it down.

Okay, press it down. Okay, so just press it down and then okay, this goes. This goes directly into the deep fryer. Yeah, going.

Let me put it down. Been ready about 6 to 8 minutes. Okay, so takes 6 to 8 minutes now to deep fry until it's crispy. Okay, wow, it's a whole mixed platter.

Yeah, exactly. Oh man. if you were hungry, just in case you are hungry, exactly, let's try it. They they kind gave us another platter.

a huge platter again just layered with it's like a cenm thick with ketchup. This is the Costa Rican chalupa. Okay, here we go Mhm I think it's beef. shredded beef on the inside, lettuce on top, just huge amounts of of creamy sauces on top, the ketchup, the mayonnaise, the mustard or I can't even tell if that's mustard or cheese but just a lot of crunchy gooey sauces all on a crunchy deep fried wrapper and they are straight up like hearty food.

cery rich and on that bite. the Empanada that I made my first ever Empanada is ready hot out of the oil. well that's hot. I Think we should crack it open to see all those insides.

Oh I Mixed a combination of Mexican style beef with pork, chicharon and beans and cheese. Wow. Hot oh man. Right out of the oil.

It's so good. The cheese is melted, the bean sauce the beef with the spices, the pork all wrapped in its crunchy crispy corn. Mas Oh yeah, that is tasty, very tasty. I I don't I don't know if I'm ready.

it's too hot. it is very hot. Eat with caution but it's so good. Make me it's good but it's too.

No problem, no problem and we are moving on to I Think drink some Costa Rican coffee. Yeah, that is correct. Costa Rican Coffee in a specialty coffee shop that is calleda. It's a really beautiful architectural building dating back to the early 1900 hundreds by an Italian architect and now it looks like there's a lot of specialty.

There's a brewery, there's a, uh, some kind of shops and restaurants for ingredients but specialty. and I mean mainly. We came in here for La Mancha specialty Costa Rican coffee from Pirates Probably the most well-known coffee region in Costa Rica Located about 2 hours from here to the South Very beautiful region. Not not touristic but very beautiful.

Mostly mountains filled with coffee plantations. ruin method uh called Bandola. The Vandola was created in 2016 by a Costa Rican Barista and it's very similar to other drip coffee methods like the CX or the B60 always is. We're going to rinse the filter with some hot water to take out that the papery flavor discard this water.

Now we're we're ready to start brewing and we're going to put here 48 G of coffee doing something we call the blooming. We're going to pour enough water to moisten all the coffee without drowning it too much and we we're going to let it. uh, degasified coffee absorbs a lot of CO2 in the roasting process so we wanted to uh release that CO2 Bloom is beautiful and in the aroma is Right amazing Yeah! I Really love this this. Banda it's called a Banda bandola bandola.

This bandola Costa Rican made coffee maker. It's like a filter plus a a coffee pot on the bottom. Smells so good coffee I'm talking to people like Alberto going to go Mhm Cheers Cheers Cheers Thank you very much. you're welcome.

Okay oh man. I mean Costa Rican Coffee is some of the most famous coffee in the world. Natural process yes oh that's that's incredible natural process. So it's fermented with the cherry on the bean that typically I believe makes it fruity which you can taste the fru of it.

but then it's followed by dark chocolate man fruity and dark chocolate. next up. We had a little bit of a drive and we're on the outskirts of town. I Think near to the Big Sabana Park but we're going to a place that's famous for ice cream but very unique flavors and it's called I Want your heart to be content? You make a lot of interesting flavors.

How do you get ideas for different flavors? It depends. the inspiration depends. Um sometimes it's just like going to the the fruit market and seeing what's in season and that inspires our gelato or our Creations in general sometimes it's just something that occurs. we wake up with with an idea and bring it to the team and we try to work it out together.

Great Um something we try to do is to celebrate fruits that grow here in Costa Rica Okay oh so you're going to pour the Prco and this is Mango Mango gelato. this is mango so on the bottom we have a shet with a mango C which is like more green, smaller and dark mango mushroom chake gelato. This is really a gourmet ice cream shop. like taking it to the next level with ingredients with style with presentation.

So this one at first is the there's pumpkin and orange I Think in here with with pumpkin seeds it's very unique and very interesting. so delicate and balanced and nutty. and you taste the orange and the sweetness of the pumpkin. wow amazing actually.

and the roasted pumpkin seeds. Okay This one is a combination of yellow Rip mango and Green unrip Mango with Prco they have to try it in three three times three oh really it's gelato separately and then join with Pro oh oh man really cold and amazing balance of sweet mango, sour mango and the the contrast of the proo. next one this one is the hot and we've had this fruit already but what's interesting is the one. the bottom is the yellow hot, the top is the green hot on the top.

oh like a shredded almost topping. oh yeah amazing sweet and sour. He next up for the shitake mushroom. that amazing savoriness of the mushroom.

the Umami of the the shitake really comes in nicely and it kind of you don't taste it at first and it keeps on building in your mouth. I don't know. caramelized onion, caramelized onion, caramelized charred onion powder and then you break some of this on top. There we go.

Wow yeah that onion I mean you really taste the sugars sweetness coming out of that caramelized onion, then with the onion powder that Char then with the and the the ice cream itself is or the gelato is not that sweet but then when you break that brittle that onion brittle that balance. Definitely unique interesting flavors. Man what an incredible day it's been in. San Jose People are friendly I Love the colors, the vibrancy, the natural ingredients.

the gaop pinto. what a dish! Thoroughly enjoyed it I'll have all the information everywhere that we ate in the description box below and also I mean Huge! Thank you to Roberto and Alex for showing us around. They're so knowledgeable about the local food in San Jose and promoting their culture and some of the best things to eat in San Jose and then also my good friends Jason and Samantha They have an incredible travel blog called myON Feet.com which you definitely check it out in the description box below. but they offer great travel information, useful tips, practical information about traveling in Costa Rica And yeah, they're just amazing to hang out with.

so thank you to everyone! and I want to say also a big thank you to you for watching this video. Please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below I'd love to hear from you and if you're not already subscribed, make sure you subscribe now for lots more food and travel videos! Goodbye from San Jose Costa Rica I'll see you on the next video.