Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So, the wife of the host of the event I'm working is the Ambassador to Costa Rica. She's requested a Tico/Latino appetizer.

Anyone have any killer ideas?

Amy

Typically you'd have a Costa Rican style ceviche, maybe some patacones which are the same as Cuban tostones served with maybe a black bean dip as opposed to the typical Cuban mojo, some sort of empanada or their cheese tortillitas. The food is closer to Cuban food than Mexican e.g. very flavorful, but not chile hot. My uncle lived in Costa Rica for many years after he left Cuba and always said he went there because it was so similar.

Alina,

If you were to compose a ceviche-based app served in a mini martini glass, i.e., a verrine, what would it look like? Or, would you tell me I'm crazy.

I've got a lot of mini flare glasses, and I can see something like this in them.

Amy

Amy I'll go look at the glasses since I am not familiar with them. I will also look for my aunt's ceviche recipe which was always a hit, though it might have been Peruvian Style instead of Costa Rica. I'll get back to you later.

Ok so now I know what a verrine is. Unlike other ceviches, Costa Rican ceviches do not seem to have as many visible layers. The veggies are cut small rather than chunky, and they are in service of the fish, as opposed to sharing the spotlight. If your glasses are small enough, then just the beautiful fish with the lettuce should be great. Do you have little forks to go with the glasses? A good thing is that tilapia seems to be one of the preferred fishes so that should help with the cost. So sorry, no bright ideas other than perhaps using the multicolored mini peppers with the green cilantro.

I am still trying to find my aunt' recipe. I wish now I'd been more careful about writing them down and saving them. She traveled expensively and spent a lot of time in Latin America (her husband was in the OAS) and had some wonderful authentic recipes. So far I have only found her Andalusian Gazpacho, her Kourabiedes and her Arroz con Pollo (she made the best one, so everyone in my family ended up using her recipe). Sorry, end of nostalgia.

Alina,

These are the glasses I have. They come with spoons, not forks, but I think that would be workable. As luck has it, there is a Costa Rican restaurant in town. Andy and I are going there for dinner (probably tonight) so I can get some ideas. Verrines don't have to be layered. I can see it being a very colorful mix served with some patacones. Or, alternatively making fried plaintain chips topped with ceviche.

I hope you can find your aunt's recipe!

Thanks for your suggestions.

Amy

Those are so cool. I think they would be perfect with the wider top.

Can you get really green plantains? For tostones, they can be a bit toward pinton. For chips however, they are awful if starting to get sweet. Also it is harder to get the long narrow chips if they are not wholly green. The long diagonal ones would look so much better than round one imho.

Not sure if you've made a lot of patacones, but you can do the first fry ahead. My daughter gave me a tostonera that works pretty well. Though the heel of your hand with the plantain between two pieces of brown paper works just as well.

Enjoy the practice runs.