Home

Cooks

Reviews

Photos

Recipes

Find a Location:

Learn more

Central America

Central America is a narrow stretch, an isthmus, between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea that tethers South America with Mexico. This tiny mountainous region is only a quarter the size of Mexico. At one time, it was ruled over by the ancient corn-based Mesoamerican civilizations that grew the tomatoes, chiles, corn, and beans still so well represented in Central American cuisines. Early Spanish conquerors introduced pigs and cattle, revealed today in beef stews (pipian, picadillo, and hilachas), stuffed pupusas, egg and chopped beef hash (carne deshilachada), chopped pork and cabbage (vigaron), marinated grilled beef (caballo bayo), and pork and white beans (frijol blanco). Chicken takes well to warm chocolaty mole sauces. Seafood is important here, too, and there is no end to the variety. Central America also produces an abundance of coffee and fresh fruits, from bananas to figs, mangoes to citrus.

	Featured Cook SBermudez Cooking Level: Intermediate Home Town: Escazu, San Jose , Costa Rica Living In: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
About me: I like cooking but I hate the guess work, so people usually hear me wispering what is that I am going to cook weeks in advance. :P My Profile | Cooks I Like | Reviews | Photos Recipes | Blog Create your own Cook's Profile | MORE Cooks »