Food Glossary: Casado

Casado is a typical Costa Rican meal available, and popular, for either lunch or dinner.  It is really yummy and a cheap meal and one of my favourite discoveries on my trip to Latin America.  The word 'casado' means 'married-one' and the dish gained this name by customers requesting a typical home cooked meal (similar to one their wife would prepare) which generally included gallo pinto, or separate rice and beans, plantain, meat, salad, possibly a tortilla or potato salad.  You MUST try!

Food Glossary: Plantain

Plantain is my favourite new discovery of 2010!  I love this relative of the banana.  It can be cooked in a variety of ways and depending on how ripe it is gives it a completely different texture and taste.

When green, the plantain is a savoury, and fairly bland and starchy.  When ripe it tastes very sweet and is mushy in texture.  The difference between sweet and savoury is about 8-9 days to ripen and the skin turns from green to black.  During my time living and travelling in Central America I was lucky enough to enjoy many a meal using plantain, such as patacones (or tostones), platanos maduros, and platanos chips!