Christmas Eve - Take Two
Another reason why...I love it here!
Our 1st Christmas away. This afternoon as we were sitting home quietly contemplating what to have for Xmas Eve dinner, our landlord magically appeared in our backyard. We've had some problems with our gate and we've been waiting for the repair person to come to check it out. It seems our landlord used his remote and the gate opened, even though it has not opened using our remote for about 3 weeks. So, he thought it was fixed.
At any rate he also had a surprise for us! He brought us some traditional Costa Rican food from their family Xmas Eve dinner. His mother sent over tamals, bizcocho, and picdaillo. He told us that each family has their own tamale recipe and they are all different. Also the tamals can be wrapped in banana or plantain leaf (each has its own distinct flavor). He definitely thinks that plantains are better.
He asked me to let him know what I thought. I tried to wait for him to leave so that I could make myself a plate and sit down to enjoy everything, but he was making himself busy attending to little odds and ends around the property. Finally, I could wait no longer!
First I sampled the bizcocho, then the piccadillo and finally the tamal.
They were all so good, I can't even tell you how good they were! And the best part was,
they thought enough of us, to bring us a part of their dinner on Xmas Eve, a time reserved for family.
Thank you Marcelo and family
We really appreciate your kindness more than you know!
bizcocho - This is a traditional dish prepared especially during holy week; during this week people try to avoid meat. That is why prepared bizcocho is prepared with cheese and corn. Bizcocho is a delicious biscuit prepared mixing ½ pound of crushed cheese, 2 ounces of starch,1/2 pound of dough, 2 ounces of butter and salt, then they are baked for one hour. Marcelo's family using 3 different cheeses
Tamal Carne - wrapped in plantain leaves.
Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries as well as the Philippines, however, versions of it vary from country to country. Marcelo's family used potatoes and a vegetable called arracacha. In the land of pura vida, versions always include the name of the vegetable which represents the main ingredient to the dish.
Marcelo brought 10 of each item. Unfortunately for Lavanson, everything but the bizcocho has meat, so he cannot eat any.
Poor thing!
More for me!
I know what I will be snacking on for the next several days!
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