Summary

Ingredients

• 300 g beans, boiled black in their own broth
• 500 g rice, cooked the day before (Arroz blanco)
• 2 tablespoon oil, (sunflower oil)
• 1 onion (s), finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove (s), crushed or finely chopped
• 2 tablespoon celery, finely chopped (optional)
• 0.5 ½ bell pepper (s), red or green, diced (optional)
• 1 tablespoon coriander greens, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (preferably Salsa Lizano822; from Costa Rica)
• Sauce, Salsa Picante / Hot Pepper (optional)
• sour cream, Costa Rican natilla
• Tortilla (s) de maiz (corn tortillas) or baguette
• Banana (s), Plátanos maduros fritos (fried, ripe plantains)
• Egg (s), (fried or scrambled eggs)
• Cheese, queso ahumado frito (fried, smoked), alternatively fried halloumi
• Steak (s) or cutlet, naturally roasted

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Instructions

1. Nicaragua and Costa Rica claim the Gallo Pinto as a national dish and claim that the other does not know how to prepare it properly. Nicaraguans use red beans, while the Ticos prefer black beans. This dish can also be found in the other countries of the Central American isthmus. Only in Honduras and El Salvador it is called Casamento (marriage). On the Atlantic coast, from Belize to Panama, where the blacks from the Caribbean fled to, it is given an English name, Rice and Beans, whereby - there must be a small difference - the rice was previously cooked in coconut milk. In the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, especially in Cuba, the fried rice and beans mixture is known as Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians) and is just as popular as it is in Central America. It also bears this name in Spain. Against this background, it is probably difficult to clearly assign the court. An Arab-African influence is not entirely unlikely, however.
2. To prepare the day before:
3. Gallo Pinto is made with boiled rice from the day before and boiled black beans in their own juice. Both are always available in a Central American household because they are simply always needed. Let us take this as another indication of how unfair the world is. What is simply there at the Tico, the German has to plan first. Those who like to cook according to original recipes will find the recipe for the Central American body-and-stomach rice under Don Diego`s Arroz blanco and the beans under Don Diego`s Frijoles negros cozidos. That was yesterday.
4. In the morning when the Gallo (rooster) wakes up:
5. Today we heat oil in the pan, first sauté the onion and garlic, then the celery, diced paprika and coriander greens and then add the beans in their own juice to the pan. A good opportunity to season the beans with Worcestershire sauce, preferably Salsa Lizano, the original from Costa Rica, which gives the Gallo Pinto its unmistakable taste, but also Lea & Perrins or another Salsa Inglesa, the Spanish collective term for this seasoning sauce. We let the bean sauce thicken a little before we stir in the rice. When the beans, vegetables and rice have mixed well and the rice has darkened from the bean broth, all you need is salt, pepper and - a tiny droplet ??? - Salsa Lizano seasoned.
6. One more word about must and can. Oil, onion, beans and rice, as well as the indispensable Salsa Lizano (according to the Costa Rican opinion!) Make a complete Gallo Pinto. Everything else is a question of personal taste and whether the household was just fully stocked. I prefer the enriched version when I`m allowed to make it myself.
7. Dispute also arises among purists over the how question. Should the Gallo Pinto be dry and lightly toasted or rather moist? Some like it that way, others like that, many like both. But it is only correct what they like best.
8. The extended must and can question relates to the enclosures. The most common are Maduros Fritos and fried or scrambled eggs. A slice of smoked grilled cheese that squeaks so nicely between your teeth increases the level of satisfaction immensely. An oven-fresh baguette with Gallo Pinto has long since become socially acceptable, as it can be so nicely dipped into the sour cream. But nothing beats a fresh tortilla casera, which comes straight from the Comal, the iron pan and wrapped in a cloth, is served in a small raffia basket. Dinner is served.
9. Now that the Gallo Pinto is served, accompanied by the preferred side dishes, it is time to open the table conversation and to remember the Uruguayan President Sanguinetti, who once honored the peacefulness of the Costa Rican people with the words: Esté donde esté dondequiera que haya un costarricense hay paz ”, which roughly translates as“ Wherever you go, wherever there is a Costa Rican, there is peace. ”When the manufacturer of Salsa Lizano put the sentence on a huge advertising poster on the way to the airport - likewise applicable - modified to Esté donde esté dondequiera que haya un costarricense hay Salsa Lizano (Wherever you go, wherever there is a Costa Rican, there you will also find Salsa Lizano), the nationally fluffy part of the Costa Rican people sat on the sofa and resented. The other part laughed or smiled happily and digested devoutly.