The corn capital of Costa Rica
Ever since I moved down here I have wondered why Costa Rica’s sweet corn was so tasteless. Corn on the cob is one of my favorite foods. When it came into season in the Central Valley of California I used to really pig out on the stuff. I ate it raw, as fast as I could put it down.
Sweet corn was a staple of my boyhood in the Middle West. Back then you completely covered it with butter; and then covered it with salt. It’s a wonder it didn’t kill us, with all the cholesterol and sodium. We had milk goats back then, and we fed the tasty used corn cobs to them. It was hilarious watching them trying to eat them. A goat has teeth in the front of its mouth, and teeth in the back of its mouth, with a gap in-between. They would get a corn cob cross-wise in the gap and bang it around until was in small enough pieces so they could chew on it. There was no way they were going to miss all that salty butter. Eventually, we broke them into small pieces for them, but that wasn’t as much fun as watching them trying to do it for themselves.
I am tempted to go on about our goats, but I will return to the main subject, which is the tiny town of La Garita in Costa Rica. I read about this in my Lonely Planet guide book. I was looking for a day trip in the Central Valley, and found two attractions in the same area: Zoo Ave (bird zoo) and La Fiesta del Maiz (corn). Farmers in this area have learned how to grow modern varieties of corn, and the corn restaurants do a brisk business as a result. I pigged out on the best sweet corn I have eaten in ages.
For some reason, this idea has not spread to the rest of Costa Rica. Boiled and roasted corn is a staple in Mexico and Guatemala, eaten by everybody—and has been for centuries. Corn husks are used to make tamales, and masa (ground corn) is used to make tortillas. In Costa Rica, corn is a minor item; they use plantain leaves to wrap their tamales. Corn on the cob is available, but it is hardly worth eating by itself, it is only used as an ingredient in soup, where it can acquire more flavor.
The part of Costa Rica I was in yesterday has been ignored by tourists. They fly in and rush for the beaches, which seems strange to me, because there are beaches all over the world. Ticos in this area have made an effort to attract tourists. My first stop was in Alajuela, where I thought I would look around awhile before changing buses. I was very strict with myself, and tried to stay oriented by keeping track of which way I was going—east, west, north, or south. But I got lost anyway. There was a maze of little streets and no street signs, so my map was useless.
Fortunately, I spotted two policemen, a man and a woman. I asked where the bus was to Zoo Ave. The policewoman told the man to show me the way. So he did, meanwhile practicing his English. It’s a good thing he did, there were so many buses moving around a gringo like me was totally overloaded. But I got on the right Blue Bird school bus and made it to the zoo.
Which reminds me of another subject: getting enough change. This is a continual hassle; small businesses often operate with less than five dollars in cash—even less. I started this trip with a taxi ride to a bus terminal. It cost 400 colones. The smallest bill is 1000 colones, about two dollars. I had a good supply of these, but no coins. The driver could not change a 1000 colone bill. So he said to get on the bus and get some change while he waited. I did; I paid my fare and got a 500 colone coin in change. I explained my situation with the taxi, which was still waiting. The bus driver took the coin, gave it to a man standing outside, and he gave it to the taxi. This is the way business is conducted in a capital-deficient economy. It has made me appreciate the advantages of capitalism.
They don’t know how to handle money. Maria is always running in to borrow a little money from me. And she keeps forgetting to pay the utility bills. When they cut off the water or the phone, she gets furious. They should understand she will pay in a little while, and not demand their money on time. For them money is a flexible concept (and time and space too). This always takes some getting used to, but it does give you more ways of dealing with the world—whether they make any sense or not.