Traditional “Tica” food is not very spicy but it is very nutritious, it is made from rice, beans, corn, vegetable, meat, chicken or fish and usually served with corn tortillas. Costa Rican veggies, fruits and meats products contain less chemical preservatives and additives then other high populated developed countries. There are thousands of Costa Rican specialties that are very healthy and economic, mostly because they all are coming from national products.
Because of the large number of immigrants from the past 25 years, supermarkets and Specialty stores offer an impressive amount of imported fine products from North America and Europe which also benefits of Costa Rican. To this day you can buy almost every specialty from other countries with great quality such as wine where there is a spectacular variety and now much cheaper than before!
Only in our small region of the Gulf of Papagayo we have 5 large supermarkets most of them located in Playas de Coco offering a mixture of national fresh products and a variety of imported products as well. There is also fruit and vegetable markets in several communities including exotic products with unique flavors that are unknown to foreigners.
The fact that we are at the beach we can buy fresh fish every day from the fishermen directly at Playas del Coco beach. We also have artisanal divers that catch seafood that do not exist in traditional markets and deliver right top your home which most of the time are cheaper than meat.
Being a very fertile country with an incredible abundance in the diversity of its food, Costa Rica offers a variety and quality of fresh and healthy food for even the most strict nutritionist and also for the most demanding culinary gastronomy lovers!
Bon Appetit!