Today we learned about Costa Rican food and agriculture through a variety of activities. The first stop on our journey was a visit with Tio Leo on his small coffee plantation. Students were outfitted with coffee bean baskets and given the task of trying to find the ripe coffee beans to start filling the basket. It was a tall task! It helped teach us how much work goes into just one cup of coffee. We then took a walk through the coffee plantation and learned to identify the many other plants they have growing there to produce shade for the coffee plants including mango trees, the Guanacaste tree, and yucca. When we got to the yucca, Tio Leo invited a few students to try harvesting. It was hard work, but they were able to pull it out! A few students were curious what raw yucca tasted like and ended up liking it! We then had the chance to see how coffee is prepared in a traditional Costa Rican chorreador. Students enjoyed trying it together with a delicious yucca snack made with achiote. Tio Leo then showed us the roasting process. We finished with a delicious Costa Rican meal.

Our next stop was the Feria de Agricultura (Farmer’s Market) where students were broken up into teams and given colones (local currency) and had to find and purchase Costa Rican fruits and vegetables that were new to them​, purchase ingredients for their Top Chef dish that they would make later that night, and try various items such as pipa fria (fresh coconut juice). Each group did such a fantastic job practicing Spanish and getting out of their comfort zones trying new things.

We returned back to the Villa and each group was given 2 hours to prepare a meal for that night’s Top Chef competition. They set off to their respective kitchens and got to work chopping, blending, and scheming how to make their dish the most delicious. At 6pm sharp we gathered together at our home-away-from-home restaurant (Coco’s) and the groups put forth their dishes to our judges including Elizabeth and Miriam from Villa Huetares and Josue, Fatima, and Karen from Coco’s Restaurant. WOW were we impressed! Each team put forth a delicious blended fruit drink to complement their main dish which included traditional Costa Rican chicken and rice, a savory ground beef dish, and a mushroom, meat, and rice blend. Delish! Prizes were awarded for Best Teamwork, Most Costa Rican, Most Creative, and Best Rolling with the Punches.