Nica Cuisine

So as of now, I’m half way done with training. Time has really flown by these past six weeks, and as a result it feels like swearing in is right around the corner. I’ve also realized that I haven’t done a great job of sharing some of the day to day parts of my life, so I figured what better way to start then by sharing with you all local Nica Cuisine. After all everyone loves food, expecially me.

I don’t think Nica restaurants exist back in the states, and I wondered why. I’ve at least seen a restaurant from countries all over Central and South America. You can find Mexican, Guatemalan, Venezuelan, and Brazilian back in the states, but not Nica. And while I’ve been loving the food down here, especially the cooking of my mother and the fritangas, there is a reason you don’t see it back in the states. It’s because a typical dish consists of carbs, carbs, and deep fried food. Unless you’re living a very active lifestyle, those carbs are gonna catch up on you quick. So it does help explain the dominant body type down here. With such a heavy emphasis on appearances back at home, it’s no wonder why Nica restaurants don’t exist. But, the food is 100% organic. So it’s got that going for it, which is nice. But lucky for me I do need the carbs and gladly slop up all the food that is put in front of me, and enjoy it too. Below are some pictures of a typical meal, and I’ll try and walk you through the, and how it varies day to day.

Here’s breakfast, although it’s a little fancier than usual today. In the bowl is good portion of fresh fruit, which varies on a day to day basis from any combination of bananas, pineapple, melon, mango, and/or watermelon. On the plate we have the daily portion of bread, but I was a little hungry before I took the picture and already had scarfed down a piece. The egg dish you see there is the fancy part of my breakfast. Typically I get gallo pinto – rice and beans – or a fried egg. But on the luck days I get a small egg scramble with peppers and pieces of bologna. The people love bologna, so as a rule, now I do to.

Again, I already had started eating my lunch before remembering to snap a photo of it. As you can see much of it is white rice, a big staple of the diet down here , as well as a good portion of beans as well, the other main staple. Today it was fried red beans, and it varies between red and black. Typically I get a good portion of fresh veggies with lunch too, ranging from platanos (up on the small dish), tomatoes, onions, avovado (from our back yard), chyote, and carrots. And if you notice too, I have a little “meatball” on my plate to. I put it in quotations because it is literally just a ball of meat of some sort deep fried it oil. In a word: delicious. But occasionally I’ll get fried fish or fried chicken instead.

Third time's a charm, and I actually remembered to take a picture before eating. As you can see, gallo pinto (rice and beans) dominate the majority of the plate, along with a big old tortilla. For dinner I almost always get a portion of mean as well, tonight it was cooked with onions and peppers. Sometimes I get what is know as a pupulso, meat and cheese cooked in between two tortillas, and that’s a real treat. And how can I forget my favorite part of the Nica diet: friend cheese, the big white square in the middle. It takes a little getting used to, and it’s a little salty, but extremely appetizing.

I take it back, my favorite thing about Nica food is the refresco’s. If you look the pictures of breakfast and dinner, you’ll see the glasses of juice. Everyday the ama de las casa will create essentially fresh juice with whatever fruits she bought at the market. Refresco de lemons, oranges, guayaba, pitahaya, all awesome.

So I’m eating relatively well, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the food back home. I dream of burgers and (good) pizza. Can’t wait for either of those again. And it's also interesting to note that families rarely eat together, based on my own experience, and talking with other aspiratnes. It has taken some getting used to eating alone.

So I’m gonna wrap up with two things:

1. Anyone have a old charger for a Dell Inspiron laptop. Mine is really on my last legs, and I would gladly pay someone to ship down and old, working charger in place of buying a new one.
2. Congratulations to my Bro, Ro, for congratulating high school, and doing his brother proud rocking the hawaiian shirt. I can only imagine these past couple of days and nights have been a blast.