Gallo pinto
 Gallo pinto served with cheese | |||||||
| Course | Main dish, side dish | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of origin | Costa Rica and Nicaragua[1] | ||||||
| Associated cuisine | Central American cuisine | ||||||
| Serving temperature | Hot | ||||||
| Main ingredients | Rice, beans | ||||||
| Ingredients generally used | Onions, peppers, other seasonings | ||||||
| Variations | Regional variations | ||||||
| 200 kcal (840 kJ) | |||||||
| |||||||
Gallo pinto or gallopinto is a traditional rice and bean dish from Central America. Consisting of rice and beans as a base, gallo pinto is important to both Nicaragua and Costa Rica, both of which consider it a national dish.
The beans in gallo pinto are cooked with garlic, oregano and onion. When the bean juice is in equal parts with the beans, they are then combined with leftover or previously prepared rice. The rice is prepared with bell peppers, salt and onions.
Etymology
[edit]Gallo pinto means 'spotted rooster' in Spanish. The name is said to originate in the multi-colored or speckled appearance that results from cooking the rice with black or red beans.[2] The term may also be shortened to "pinto" depending on the region.
History
[edit]It is uncertain and disputed which country is the precise origin of the dish.[3] Both Nicaragua and Costa Rica claim it as their own, and its origin is a controversial subject between the two countries.[1][2]
Gallo pinto is one of many various Latin American plates that involve the preparation of the most integral ingredients for many cultures: rice and beans. Gallo pinto is considered to be a product of mestizos; a combination of beans, cultivated by Indigenous people of pre-Columbian time, and rice, a grain introduced by the Spanish. [4] Rice, originally from Asia, was introduced by Arabs in Spain and became a main but versatile ingredient in the 15th and 16th centuries. With the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Spanish introduced rice quickly to Mexico and South America. It is suggested that within the 18th century, the cultivation of rice became relevant to Central America. This occurred as well with beans, which were cultivated centuries prior in Mesoamerica.
Regional variations
[edit]Costa Rica
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In Costa Rica, the dish has an origin story involving a farmer in San Jose's San Sebastian neighborhood who told his friends and neighbors he was going to slaughter a speckled hen or gallo pinto for a feast day celebration for Saint Sebastian; when the people he had told interpreted this as an invitation to dinner, the hen wasn't enough to feed everyone, and he served rice and beans. It turned into a local joke, with people asking one another whether they'd gotten any of the farmer's gallo pinto, and the name for the dish spread throughout the country.[3] Preston-Werner writes that the truth of the origin story is less important than the fact that it "provides a crucial cultural explanation for the origin of this ubiquitous food. In the case of pinto, a culturally adored foodway becomes grounded in time (the start of the twentieth century on the day of Saint Sebastián) and space (the town of San Sebastián by the Tiribi River)".[3]
In Costa Rica it is eaten with Lizano sauce.[2] Traditionally in home preparation the dish is made from leftover rice and beans from the previous day's meals.[5][6][7] There are several regional variations: the Valle Central version, which usually prepared with black beans, peppers, onions, and cilantro, and often includes Lizano sauce in the recipe; and the Guanacaste version, which is usually prepared with red beans and is fattier.[2] A third version includes coconut milk.[3]
The dish is often eaten for breakfast, and every breakfast typically includes it, but it is also eaten for other meals or for a snack.[2][8][3] As a breakfast dish it is often served with some combination of eggs, fried plantains, corn tortillas, fried cheese, meat and fruit, and is often accompanied by natilla.[6][9][10] It is often served as a side dish at lunch.[11]
Nicaragua
[edit]In Nicaragua, gallo pinto, is their national dish, and is traditionally prepared with and onions, usually cooked in vegetable oil, although animal fats such as lard are occasionally used.[12][13] In some recipes aromatics are left in large chunks and removed before serving.[13] When prepared at home it is traditionally uses day-old rice to allow the rice to dry out slightly so that grains are separated.[13]
The dish is eaten at any time of the day. It is commonly sold in fritangas, where it is served as a companion to various dishes.[14] The dish is eaten at any meal.[2] In some homes it is served at every meal.[13] It is often served garnished with pico de gallo and sour cream.
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Parker, Jenn (2017-11-07). "Costa Rica Vs Nicaragua: Who Really Invented Gallo Pinto?". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ a b c d e f Ray, Ranita (30 January 2023). "Gallo Pinto, A Famed Vegetarian Dish! But Why The Rooster Link?". Slurrp. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ a b c d e Preston-Werner, Theresa (2020-07-10). "Gallo Pinto: Tradition, Memory, and Identity in Costa Rican Foodways". Journal of American Folklore. 122.
- ^ Arellano, J. E. (n.d.). Nuevo Elogio de la Gastronomía Nicaragüense. https://www.enriquebolanos.org/media/publicacion/RevistaTemasNicaraguenses59marzo2013.pdf#page=76
- ^ Fernandez, Ileana (2023-08-31). "Gallo Pinto: A Secret Behind Costa Rica's Nicoya Blue Zone". The Tico Times. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ a b Bustos, Laura Williams (2023-08-18). "16 Tips For Dining In Costa Rica Like A Local". Tasting Table. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Lopez, Jaime (2015-08-31). "The Afro Costa Rican Heritage of Gallo Pinto". Costa Rica Star News. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ "Gallo Pinto: The breakfast snack from Costa Rica". Deutsche Welle. 10 April 2023.
- ^ González, Sofía (2020-11-11). "What to Eat at Costa Rica's Dazzling Mercado Central". Eater. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Baur, Joe (2023-04-15). "Gallo pinto: Costa Rica rice and beans". BBC. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Hines, Nickolaus (6 November 2020). "12 Classic Costa Rican Dishes That Exemplify Pura Vida". Matador Network. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Royal Spanish Academy y Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (2014). «gallopinto». Diccionario de la lengua española (23.ª edición). Madrid: Spain. ISBN 978-84-670-4189-7. Consulted October 19, 2018.
- ^ a b c d del Mar Cuadra, María (9 February 2023). "Gallopinto (Nicaraguan Rice and Beans) Recipe". Serious Eats. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Maddicks, Russell (2017-10-02). "A Brief History Of Fritangas: Nicaragua's Popular Street Barbecues". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
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