A female Mediterranean fruit fly pumps eggs through her ovipositor into the soft outer layers of a ripe coffee berry. Coffee is one of Costa Rica's prime exports
In 2011 National Geographic had a photo contest and ironically one of the winners in the nature category was a picture of a fruit fly resting on a green coffee bean in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Obviously unknown to the photographer, it implicated one of Costa Rica’s worst nightmares is alive, well, and continues to threaten Costa Rica’s multimillion dollar agriculture business.
The Mediterranean fruit fly, is one of the world’s most destructive fruit pests. This pest attacks more than 260 different fruits, flowers, vegetables and nuts and causes billions of dollars in damages.
It was in 1955 the Mediterranean fruit fly first invaded Costa Rica and did over $2 million in damages, or in today’s dollar, around $20 million. And back in 1955, the agriculture business was only a fraction of what it is today. With said, Costa Rica has taken massive steps to combat any infestation and has established detection procedures so that the pest does not make Costa Rica its home. Read more...(519 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)
A few weeks ago at the Auto Mercado in Jaco, it was very evident that even if Thanksgiving is not a Costa Rican holiday, is sure is one of the most celebrated American holidays in Costa Rica.
Signs were up for the holiday and products were already being displayed. Frozen turkeys, stuffing mix (including popular brands like Stove Top), salad fixing, sweet potatoes, green bean casseroles, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce as well as apple, pecan, mince, pumpkin pie and all of the other gastronomical goodies.
And there is something about Costa Rica potatoes (which are a bit sweeter) that makes unreal mash potatoes!
Unfortunately, turkeys are either imported frozen from the U.S. or purchased locally from Pipasa (a meat and poultry company) and is not cheap for a fresh bird: at least $3.50 per pound. So a 20lb bird could cost you around $70USD, compared to one in the US, where specials for birds can be as low as $7USD for a 13lb turkey.
Most will go ahead and buy frozen. PriceSmart and Auto Mercando have 15-18lbs turkeys for over $40. Auto Mercado is probably the most Americanize superstore in all of Costa Rica and imports many American goods along with Thanksgiving products, including stuffing mix, canned pumpkin, frozen pie crusts, canned onion rings and cranberries. Read more...(509 words, 2 images, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)
Last week we got two interesting emails; one “What is Chifrijo?” and the other, “I had this dish [Chifrijo] at a Sunday la feria (farmers market) it was fantastic - I had never seen it before - is this something new in Costa Rica? Surprisingly, a few days later, I read a friend’s Costa Rica Blog where he rant and raved about Chifrijo he had at some local event.
It got me thinking, when did I first see and have it?
First, Chifrijo is a portmanteau, which is a blend of two (or more) words or morphemes into one new word, chicharrones (fried pork rinds/skin) and frijoles (beans). It’s a layered dish, with rice, red beans, pork rinds, freshly chopped tomato and/or pico de gallo (fresh vegetables hot sauce), and served with fried tortilla chips; it is also served with corn tortillas and bread. The Mexicans have been serving this style of dish (with pinto and/or black beans) on a plate or in a bowl with corn or flour tortilla, since God-knows when. Costa Rica gave it their signature with the pork rinds. Since fried pork skin is just plain disgusting to many Gringos (except those of southern upbringing) the fried skin is usually substituted with fried meat and/or seafood, particularly shellfish. Read more...(748 words, 1 image, estimated 2:60 mins reading time)
The world’s most advance technology will have it 20th Birthday on Aug, 8th; thats when the “World Wide Web (www)” first gained a public face in 1991.
CERN, which straddles the border between France and Switzerland, publicized the new World Wide Web project, two years after, British scientist Tim Berners-Lee had begun creating HTML, HTTP and the first few Web pages at CERN.
The World Wide Web in its short span has grown into a multi-trillion dollar business – making it the fastest growing business in the history of mankind. In 1998, less than .1% of the population of Costa Rica (including the World) had no clue to what the Internet was.
According to a poll we have been conducting, seventy-eight percent of Costa Ricans are influence by technology. As one person commented on one of our Blog posts: Read more...(832 words, 2 images, estimated 3:20 mins reading time)
Back in April, 2009 we wrote about how Costa Rica was forming the Costa Rica Federation of American Football (FCFA) - since then, the game is becoming more popular with its 3rd season. For more info, contact Cody Gear at 321-218-9209 or via email at codygear (at) codylgearandassociates dot com.
Costa Rica has also been invited to the World Cup of American Football to be held in Mexico City July 13-20th, 2012
American football is alive and well in Costa Rica. This year the league completed its third year. The season which went from February to June culminated in the third championship being won by the Santa Ana Bulldogs. This is the second year that the Bulldogs have won the championship.
Many don’t know that a league exist here in Costa Rica much less that it has enjoyed success and growth over the past three years. The teams are predominantly comprised of Costa Ricans but there are many expats that participate as well. The Costa Ricans are learning the game and each year show steady improvement. The league is fortunate to have a number of qualified coaches but we are always looking for new blood. Read more...(536 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)
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