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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Exploring Costa Rica: Pura Vida! Part IV

Recap: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Day 2 in Costa Rica we woke up to a very rainy day. We began to believe that the stories about a volcano were mere rumors, made up by drunken tourists. The tree frogs we could believe, since we could hear them. But the volcano?

It must exist since it tweeted back at me when I posted this picture via Instagr.am. That's proof, people. And this picture? Clearly steam rising from the volcano, covering it in a spooky mist.

Breakfast was delightful. Eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, sausage, toast, more plantains. And gallo pinto! We hadn't seen it on the menu where we ate our first meat-heavy meal, and it wasn't on the restaurant menu the night before. I'd asked our bartender and he assured me it would be available at breakfast. Seems I didn't really do my research before going. Gallo pinto is morning dish.

Oh.

But then there it was, it all its painted glory, next to my fried egg. It tasted exactly like mine. Seems like I nailed it on my first try. Yay me.


And this is where we first had our taste of Salsa Lizano, which is the brown sauce above, on the egg. It's the Costa Rican equivalent of American ketchup, not in flavor but in ubiquity. This salsa is sweet (sugar is the second ingredient) and tangy, kind of similar to Worcestershire sauce. My father and I are currently trying to figure out the breakdown of spices. I'm convinced there's a good deal of cumin in it.

You can put this on anything, and are so encouraged. It was a tad too sweet for my egg, but I ended up putting it on just about everything else I ate the rest of the trip.

And bringing  home an unopened bottle of it too, of course. What's a vacation without souvenirs?

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