On our recent vacation to Costa Rica we rented a house in Playa Flamingo on the Northern Pacific Coast. While I do love to cook, it's not one of those things that I like to do in a strange house on vacation. (I can be a snob when it comes to pans and cooking utensils, a sharp knife, etc) But, I did warm up to the idea after we figured out that the sun set very early (5:30 or so) and the not so great roads became even more treacherous after dark! So, instead of venturing out into the jungles of Costa Rica at night along with the howler monkeys we arranged to have several meals in our house.
Early one day Ralph and I went exploring only to find the one and only fish market in the area. A local excursion guide showed us the way to a little house where the fish was abundant in her own personal freezer type chest which sat on her front porch! When she opened this chest our eyes probably got as big as saucers! She had quite the collection of every type of fish that was caught in the area. Corvina (sea bass), slabs of fresh mahi mahi, bags of prawns, snapper and tuna. Yum! We decided on a large chunk of mahi mahi about two feet in length!
On the way home we stopped at the local market for items that would complete the meal. Back at the house everyone pitched in to help, with lots of chopping, marinating, attempting to fire up the grill, table setting, attempting to fire up the grill, again! Evidently there was a problem with our barbecue, so without a blink, plan B was implemented. Stove top grilling the chunks of marinated mahi mahi would have to do and it did. With our concerted efforts we sat down to a wonderful home cooked meal of grilled mahi mahi, gallitos de papa (potatoes) papaya and chips and guacamole.
Our marinade included:
juice of lime
garlic
mandarin juice and zest
cilantro,
olive oil
onion
Cost of meal around $20.00
Dining in Costa Rica, at home with good friends, PRICELESS!
I am sure you brought Costa Rica at your home with this beautiful meal.
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