I'm in Costa Rica and today we are eating rarely seen indigenous food with the amazing Malu people this is local medicine, iguana fat it works like a milk and the children. they will be growing pretty healthy. Chicken of the trees and chicken of the ground. Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day! It's Mark W I'm in San Rafael De Guatuso which is in Costa Rica in Central America And this is home to the indigenous Malu people who have a population of only 650 people.

Today we have a once in a-lifetime Opportunity where the head of the village of the community of his family has invited us over to his house toook cook to eat to learn about the local unique indigenous food. This is food that's rarely ever seen food that's almost been forgotten. It's pre-colombian it's dishes and foods that have been around before. Costa Rica Elas Isas Ah so we've just been welcomed into the village into the community.

His name his Spanish name is Elas but his local indigenous Malu name is Hakima and he's the head of the community of his household of his family and he's in charge of welcoming guests. He's in charge of showing culture and Al he's also in charge uh of the food and he said that they do Pottery Agriculture, raising animals, hunting is also a huge part of their culture. Amigos My name is Alides Eliso Welcome to Malus Community We are about 650 Malus surviving today. This is our territory ER The government.

They did a reservation in 1977. It has a about 3,000 hectares. but we are sad because today of these 3,000 hectares we are keeping only like 40% of our land and is considered reservation. but we are working hard because we want to recover all all the land.

Mhm H Why we want to do that because originally in Legally Malos are Hunters Okay we are in the modern but today we have this very I mean this permission. Legally we can hunt, we can go for fishing, we can go for in the forest hunting some animals. Why? Because this is part of the of the tradition for for surviving We are uh inviting you to come with us and we want to show you how can we make some typical food and now today you are going to have this experience to to try. How is the MOs food how it tastes so Pura VA and welcome and enjoy with us.

Thank you! Happy to be here! That was amazing! That was a perfect overview and I Also think you know there's many aspects to culture. There's many aspects to a people. but for me I mean loving food and also traveling for food. There's no bigger part of a culture than food.

Thank you very much for inviting us today and for this incredible opportunity. just to keep in mind um Mr Elas he will be speaking and most of the people from the community they still speak the local Malu language so he's going to be speaking in Malu and then his brother will be translating into English. Okay amigos welcome So today we are going to start preparing the food and the fish that we like to eat a lot here in Malay or the most important things for the fish is this leaf that we call anise or esta in M language we call quong quong is the best part because it's going to give like the best flavor for the fish. Okay okay this kind of dish in Mal we call them f is it.

We have to put it around here around the fire. okay like for 30 40 minutes something like this always depend how with the fire and after that the the the fish is going to be ready now as you can see then he puts it onto the fire but it's a more of an indirect heat not directly into the fire but on the sides of the fire. Those leaves are going to protect the fish on the inside and also give it that incredible fragrance that natural fragrance. The next dish that we're going to be preparing this is the Iguana ER So we are going to prepare ERA This is part of the tradition and also of the culture that we are still practicing in.

Malu So this is Mal's typical food. Iguanas Iguanas has the skin Mhm. but originally when we are going to prepare the Iguana we are not going to remove the skin when we are going to prepare the Iguana Okay because if we are going to remove the skin the families they are not going to like to eat them. Oh so you need to prepare it with the skin on.

We have to prepare it with the skin as they're preparing the Iguana I just want to quickly mention but as they've already uh explained explained well uh Costa Rica is very known for its conservation and they do a great job to conserve and so to conserve to the wildlife and the beautiful nature of Costa Rica And see the only people that are allowed permitted to hunt uh are the indigenous people such as the Malu people. and so this family. They've kindly invited us over to show their culinary culture that's been done for thousands of years. I mean they've been Hunters gatherers in this region of Central America for thousands of years and so we're here to really just learn to experience to respect their culture and they're allowed to hunt.

the Costa Rica Government respects their culture as well and so that's the story of the Iguana. It's really a privilege to be here with with the original land owners of Costa Rica when we are going to prepare uana always always we are going to put or bananas or casaba root which is Juka people that are having like like a asthma problem here in Meu and if you want to be if you want to use a natural medicine yeah, you have to eat iguana with a special H How can I say is it a fat that yellow The yellow, it's like a fat from the uana Oh Okay, that's why don't remove that because it is special for our medicinal. Okay, to make the process a little faster, we're going to move to the gas stove here in the kitchen. Uh but something that's you have to realize is that the entire iguana is used Nothing.

Nothing from the Iguana is wasted right? Everything is used. Everything is Everything is uh, useful because has special things. This one is Cava that's also going to go into the Iguana. The Iguana with Yuka or cassava goes into water that's going to boil with some salt for about 40 or 45 minutes before anything else is done.

The fish is uh, roasting the Iguana is boiling. We have one more dish that they're going to show us and that's with a gyen. It's a chicken. it's a female chicken, it's a hen and they have invited me to kill the chicken for the for the meal.

so it's actually an honor. Um and I do think that if you do eat meat I mean you have to know where your meat comes from. You have to just fully respect every animal that you are eating. And I think they they truly in the Malu culture.

They truly do respect. Nothing goes to waste. It's yeah, they they treat every animal that they eat with respect. It's not exactly the the most fun part of the food Circle food process but that that is what it is.

it's a part of life. And I mean especially if you eat meat, it's it's something that I think we should all know where it comes from and uh know how it's prepared fresh and then again nothing. everything is respected. Everything is the the entire chicken as with the Iguana as with the fish will be consumed.

Wow. Okay as we were preparing the chicken the fish is ready. It's been about 40 minutes or so. You're just unwrapping the leaves and you said, one of the reasons you can tell that it's ready is the the juices start to dry up a little bit because the fish produces all that juice comes out.

Oh and as he's unwrapping it, you can really smell that. Aroma Mhm Oh oh the banana leaves. But I think even more fragrant is those anist leaves which have this incredible fragrance to them. Oh that's so aromatic.

we are going to start so you make sure you eat a little bit of the leaf with the fish. Uhh okay so here. oh it's so aromatic. That leaf.

oh beautiful. Look at how juicy it remains. it stays so juicy MH okay and S to it. let's go for it.

Yeah Oh oh, look at the oily juiciness of M good right? Mhm. so pure tasting. mhm just I mean just lightly salted. the aroma of the leaf and it's cooked like perfectly, not overcooked, so juicy.

Can't also eat the leaf. Okay yeah. also got to taste the the the flavor of that leaf. oh oh the leaf is M The leaf is amazing.

The leaf is incredible. It has this. It has this silky texture to it. one more time you know the the the flavor it's coming from the leaf.

M Okay again this is an or rest in Malu or Malu language. we call that quong okay qu That's why today in our community you can see people very healthy. probably because of this. Uhuh, because because we like to eat natural food M For example, like this food no spices, everything is natural and this Leaf is a big part of the diet.

It's often very very common. Of course we are eating this kind of leaf always I Think what's incredible about the leaf is that it has this silky texture to it and it has this just a very light pepperiness and a really nice fragrance. Uh, and this entire preparation. It's kind of kind of baked grilled but also steamed at the same time because of that packet of leaves that just holds everything in so that keeps the fish so soft and so so smooth and so juicy.

How do you say delicious ining? o Oh that flavor is so nice. No, the leaves are incredible. Oh my God Yeah the leaves are delicious. So juicy like perfectly juicy.

Yes after the chicken is fully parted, out, cut up, washed, then she combines it in a big pot with carrots. There's going to be onions, there's some red peppers, might be potato as well and then one another. One of of the Main Ingredients is chaote which is like a squash gourd and that's going to be boiled up into a sauce with the chicken. Another maluca recipe using ingredients that they grow that they produce everything themselves.

but in the meantime as that boils which is probably going to boil for another hour, the Iguana is ready. Oh cuz people know Yeah Okay here you know we have the iguanas and also here in Costa Rica the people called a gajina Deo because it tastes almost like chicken. Oh okay so the the Yuka the Yuka is boiled. oh it's soft, really soft.

you can see all parts of the Iguana everything the skin. everything is eaten. Yeah the skin, the tail. So I think it's is the tail okay oh tail section Bueno yes ching ching What? how do you say Mu buening, etching, etching okay oh Thea Thea etching.

It's really pure tasting, really simple, so clean and fresh. I Want to I Want to try one of those legs like Alias ate with the skin? Okay I'm going to try one of those legs. Good? Yes Okay here we go It is okay. Really delicious and pure.

This is the oily fat, the yellow fat that you could see and this is local medicine. a medicinal value to it. Yeah, Iguana fat. m it's it's kind of like a a jelly, actually a straight iguana jelly.

but that's the fat. that's the a lot of nutrition in that fat. It's really really good and even the skin is tender. Yeah it's not leathery, it's easy to eat.

It's such a clean flavor, so natural tasting. I mean it does kind of taste like chicken or actually what it really reminds me of is frog. If you've eaten frog legs has the exact same almost flavor and tex as frog legs. really tasty.

And I think also this recipe like the fish. it's simple I mean this could be a recipe that they've been cooking for thousands of years. It could date back thousands of years. I mean just it's just straight iguana Yuka water and salt.

That's all there is in it and a recipe that I think the Maluku people have been eating in this region of. Central America for thousands of years. so it is a a huge honor to be here. I think Also, something that you'll notice is that the food is also not even salted in that much.

It's not an overuse of salt like we tend to do in modern society. now. we tend to overs salt everything. Everything is way too salty.

They've just barely used a little bit of salt to bring out the flavor. But nothing is overly salty. And so with the Iguana I mean I I already can taste that. The the tail tastes quite a lot different from the legs.

Almost like a chicken, right? Yeah, that's why I You know here getting because the people call them a gajina Palo chicken of the trees chicken of the trees. That's correct because taste almost like chicken. It does. It does.

and this is very healthy. I'm moving into another piece of the Iguana I think I got some of the the ribs, the rib cage. this section okay, that's a bit tougher and chewier, but even the skin is totally edible. And because an iguana is I mean when it's wild, it eats most leaves a diet of leaves.

It has this naturally sweet flavor taste to it. Such a clean taste as well. It's really good and again the way they've prepared it the way they've cooked it, nothing is being covered up completely natural as they they emphasize they've done for for so many years. and the Yuka is also absolutely incredible.

You could just melt in your mouth. just a fragrance of the Iguana that's just absorbed into it I think just like a chicken. My favorite part of iguana are the legs so they're super ripe. Yes, extra R extra.

Yep so another recipe they're making is a drink which is made from the plants which really rip plins which have been roasted in the fire in the coals until charred and they're actually kind of like burst open with that sugary sweetness. and they're going to make a drink out of them, a beverage and mash it, mash it up. You can see how they're just so tender and so cuz they're so ripe they're just almost melting your mouth tender already. and then also with the combination of how ripe they are and then being roasted.

In Their Skin They're so aromatic you can I mean literally smell like the caramelized sugar in those bananas in those plantin Gracias. What is the local name for this? Copy Copy Copy Copy Copy Copy Copy Copy Copy. C Copy Copy Copy C C Okay, that is. M that's that's it kind.

There's yeah, no sugar. It literally the purest, simplest beverage you could even dream of. I Mean it's just straight. the naturalness of the plantin.

super ripe so that they're like literally bulging with sugars coming out of them, tossed onto the fire for about 30 minutes until they just burst open, peeled, mashed in a picture water. That's all. no sugar. and it's so good.

Because the complexity of that plant, and it's it's. sweet, naturally sweet, it has a tartness, sourness to it, and it's almost like a smoothie at the same time because it's so thick and starchy that's like a meal beverage all in. Oh, and the smokiness from the fire. That's just so simple.

Originally our people when they have childrens they will be giving this special drink and I'm going to say that it works like a milk and the childrens they will be growing pretty healthy because as you saw, no sugar, everything is natural and everything is very healthy. But this is Machaka in Mal machaka and maybe the natural potassium and the minerals within the yeah yeah, that's correct, the planting That's what. Also like act. Every single day in our families we will be drinking this machaka with our families.

Really good. C That looks amazing. So the chicken is ready. It's been boiling for about an hour.

It's stewed down, it's tender. All of this vegetables have just started to I mean completely soften and bring out their aromatics and their flavor into the broth. So it's kind of like a soup. kind of like a sauce, but all one chicken in a pot.

Oh so let's try some of that chicken. Really interested in all these vegetables and the chaote, the potato, the carrots, rice, tomato and cabbage on the side as well. We're sitting down for the full meal. All three proteins, rice, the chayote, the carrots, all those vegetables boiled down.

This is a a really special meal. one of the most memorable meals. G Deo G Deo Po Okay so chicken of the trees and chicken of the ground that's a tender and again like everything just so natural. Just as simple but local as you can possibly get.

Nice I think I had the oh this is like the whole muscle man. Oh okay and then with all those those vegetables, the rice that completes the meal I Think What's also what you can also learn from this meal is that there's no additives. There's no seasoning powders, there's no sauces, manufactured processed sauces. Everything is I Mean it's just a Sprinkle of salt, that's all.

Plus the natural ingredients. Oh the carrots are amazing. Oh oh you can even see inside of the yellow. all the fat and the joint material is yellow in color from that iguana.

Oh you can even see it's kind of like jellied like collagen then along with the the Yuka as well just melting. okay much gracias. much is a how you say thank you in the Malu language. a Oh see if I can remember P N N N N N n wait now I forgot the first.

that means thank you very much friend Oh yes back to the the An leaves. That might be my one of my favorite flavors of the entire day. These anise leaves wowa um uana or Po Po likeu and again the the local name for an iguana is era era truly stands out to me is just the Simplicity the natural ingredients and just the Harmony in which they live with nature with they treat things that they eat I Want to say a huge thank you to Mr Ellas and his family and also to my friends uh Jason and Samantha from Myan Feet.com who have an amazing uh travel company covering information that you need to make the most of your trip to Costa Rica So I'll have their information in the description box below. and also if you haven't already see the other videos food videos in this Costa Rica series.

uh, you're not going to want to miss the street food tour in San Jose as well as the long life food of Nikoa where a higher than average amount of people live much healthier, much longer lives sometimes over a hundred years old. So make sure you check out the rest of these videos and I want to say a huge thank you for watching. Please remember to give this video 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 Costa Rica and I will see you on the next video.