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 dish from Central America. Consisting of rice and beans as a base, gallo pinto has a long history and is important to both Nicaraguan and Costa Rica, both of which consider it a national dish. Both countries claim creation of the dish, which has Afro-Caribbean roots.
Ingredients include rice, black or red beans, onions, peppers, often herbs, and other seasonings.
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 simply "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] There is general agreement that the dish's origins are Afro-Caribbean.[1] The dish is mentioned in Carlos Luis Fallas' Mamita Yunai, which describes Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans working together on banana plantations encountering the dish and eventually taking it back home.[1] According to anthropologist Teresa Preston-Werner, Fallas' "inclusion of pinto in the cultural landscape of the Caribbean coast demonstrates the meal’s ubiquity in daily life as early as the first part of the twentieth century".[3]
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]
Regional variations
[edit]Costa Rica
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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.[4][5][6] There are two main 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]
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][7][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.[5][8][9] It is often served as a side dish at lunch.[10]
Nicaragua
[edit]In Nicaragua, where it is also called gallopinto, it is traditionally prepared with red silk beans and onions, usually cooked in vegetable oil, although animal fats such as lard are occasionally used.[11][12] In some recipes aromatics are left in large chunks and removed before serving.[12] When prepared at home it is traditionally uses day-old rice to allow the rice to dry out slightly so that grains are separated.[12]
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.[13] The dish is eaten at any meal.[2] In some homes it is served at every meal.[12] It is often served garnished with pico de gallo and sour cream.
Panama
[edit]Guatemala
[edit]Contention
[edit]According to Costa Rica the dish dates to 1930s San Jose. According to Nicaragua it is based on a dish that was brought to the country by enslaved Africans much earlier.[2]
In 2003, the government of Costa Rica held an event at which nearly 1000 pounds of gallo pinto was cooked and served; the event was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Nicaragua responded by preparing and serving 1200 pounds.[14] The competitions became an annual Gallo Pinto Day.[2] The competition between the two countries over ownership of the dish is sometimes referred to as the "Gallo Pinto War".[14]
Cultural importance
[edit]The dish is culturally important in both Costa Rica and Nicaragua.[2]
The dish is a national dish of Costa Rica abd is the country's best known dish.[8][5][7][15] The phrase mas tico que el gallo pinto (more Costa Rican than spotted rooster) is a common saying in Costa Rica.[2] It is on the menu of most Costa Rican restaurants.[5] According to Costa Rican chef and food writer Isabel Campabadal, "If any one dish defines Costa Rican cuisine, it is gallo pinto".[10] According to anthropologist Theresa Preston-Werner, the dish is "ubiquitous" in any Costa Rican breakfast.[3]
The dish is a staple in Nicaragua and considered on of its national dishes.[13][1] In 2019 Daniel Ortega proposed that Nicaragua needed to develop a "gallo pinto" economy, which Confidencial described as one that "appeal[ed] to the creativity and resistance of Nicaraguans to endure the hardships of an economic debacle caused by himself".[16]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e 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 g h i j 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 f Preston-Werner, Theresa (2020-07-10). "Gallo Pinto: Tradition, Memory, and Identity in Costa Rican Foodways". Journal of American Folklore. 122.
- ^ 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 c d 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.
- ^ a b "Gallo Pinto: The breakfast snack from Costa Rica". Deutsche Welle. 10 April 2023.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b Maddicks, Russell (2017-10-02). "A Brief History Of Fritangas: Nicaragua's Popular Street Barbecues". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ a b "Costa Rica Strikes Back in Gallo Pinto War". The Tico Times. 2005-01-14. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Miller, Bryan (2020-01-28). "Savoring Costa Rica, Sip By Sip". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Salazar, Maynor (2019-01-03). "Ortega Offers Nicaragua "Reconciliation" & a Rice and Beans Economy". Confidencial. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
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