Guide to Quepos & Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica - Quepolandia

Introducing Chef Edgar Vargas Romero

By Ana Lyons

One Sunday afternoon in the sleepy village of Matapalo, while enjoying a visit with my friends Susanna and Jean-Louis Mari, owners of Express del Pacifico Restaurante, a “new face in town” entered to have a cold beverage and some conversation. After exchanging pleasantries, we found out that Edgar Vargas is the new executive chef at Parador Hotel’s restaurants in Manuel Antonio – enjoying his day off in our little slice of paradise.

Filed under: Guest Chef, Guest Writer on May 28th, 2011
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Eka Pada Rajakapotasana or Pigeon Pose

By Mark Goldstein

May’s Pose of the Month is Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, or Pigeon Pose.

This pose is a wonderful hip opener, because of that it can help out many types of lower back pain. As a massage therapist, the most common issue that I hear from clients is regarding back pain. Of course it can feel wonderful to have some great massage strokes done to your back when you are in pain, but, I find that whether we are healing through massage or yoga, that we always need to address the front of the body too in order to really make your back feel better.

As you will see, Pigeon Pose is a great way to do this through yoga.

Filed under: Costa Rica Yoga Journal, Mark Goldstein on May 28th, 2011
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Varieties – Adding Spice to our Lives

By Donna Porter

A tree is not just a tree, a flower is not just a flower and a fruit is just not a fruit. To describe a plant by saying that it is a “tropical tree with green leaves and yellow flowers” is similar to describing a person by saying “it is a Latino man with black hair and dark skin”. This oversimplification of descriptions leaves one scratching one’s head in wonder and as clueless as ever. Plants, as humans, are not all created equal. They are characterized and classified in an assortment of ways to distinguish them, or their groupings or types, and to help in their identification. Having an identity is as important in the plant world as it is in the human world, although, plants, unlike humans, can be preserved for future usage and benefit – an even greater reason for correct identification.

Filed under: Donna Porter, It's a Wonderful World of Plants on May 26th, 2011
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Overnight Success in Just a Decade

By Jim Parisi

Lucho Calavera and his band La Canalla recorded their entire debut album “Ni Pa’ Que Te Cuento” in the Papaya Music Studio in Alajuela in just two and a half months, an incredible, very efficient accomplishment. Then they spent nearly a year crafting and polishing their model. A band that has a reputation for enjoying themselves onstage, including live dancers as part of their entourage, became very serious in the studio, expanding the band from five players to nine, to include more percussion and a horn section, further indication of the scope of their vision. That vision is initiated by singer/songwriter Lucho Calavera, the altered ego of Luis Arena, who has been in the Costa Rica music scene for some time. He recorded two albums in the late Nineties with El Parque, the second CD on the Sony Music Label. They were the first Costa Rican band to air a video on MTV Latino. He then went solo, working on projects with other local bands, most notably Evolucion. He also sat in with Soda Stereo, a popular band from Argentina. Arena then relocated to Madrid, evolving musical influences and his pseudonym, with gypsy bravado wrapped around it.

Filed under: Jim Parisi, Music Review on May 21st, 2011
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Crab Melts

By Bill Dwyer

Melts are open-face sandwiches, with melted cheese as the common denominator. They are usually made with a meat or seafood salad mixed with cheese. Here is my version of a favourite of ours – the crab melt.

I don’t follow a recipe when I make these, but to write this column and tell you how to make crab melts, I did some measuring as I added ingredient after ingredient. I put each ingredient into a measuring cup without packing them down – just left loose; so keep that in mind as you build your own crab melts. And don’t feel you have to match my measurements exactly – just fairly closely. By the second or third time you make crab melts you probably won’t need to do any measuring.

You can use this recipe to make shrimp, chicken, or even hot-dog melts by substituting the crabmeat.

Ingredients

1 six-oz can crabmeat (Roland white crabmeat is available at Supermas)
1 cup grated radishes
1 cup green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
½ cup celery, finely chopped
½ cup cucumber, finely chopped (seeds and pulp removed, but unpeeled)
12 green olives, finely chopped
3 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup Dijon mustard
salt and white pepper, to taste
6 oz Emmenthal cheese, grated
8 English muffin halves, toasted

Filed under: Cooking Corner on May 21st, 2011
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Cambios ortográficos en Pretérito Indefinido de la tercera persona

a) Conjugue los siguientes verbos singular y plural de cambio: o-u, e-i.

El __________ (repetir) muchos verbos en la clase de ayer.

Ellos __________ (dormir) ocho horas anoche.
Carlos __________ (morir) en un accidente el año pasado.
Nosotros __________ (invertir) en hoteles de playa.
En el restaurante él __________ (pedir) un plato de mariscos.
Las saloneras __________ (servir) la cena a las 7:00 p.m.
Yo __________ (reir) mucho en la película de ayer.
Costa Rica __________ (competir) en la Copa Mundial de fútbol en 1990 y en el 2002.
El policía __________ (seguir) al ladrón.
10. Nosotros __________ (divertirse) mucho en la fiesta.
11. Mi esposa __________ (sentirse) mejor después de la visita al doctor.
12. El perro __________ (perseguir) al gato alrededor de la casa.
13. El testigo __________ (mentir) en su testimonio.

Filed under: Academia D'Amore, Tico Talk on May 18th, 2011
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The Guy with the Black Hat Riding the Bicycle

by Jack Ewing

The Story of a Campesino Called “Tornillo”

Everyone who lives near Dominical has seen Tornillo (pronounced tor-knee-yo) at one time or another. He’s the guy with the black hat riding the bicycle toward Platanillo every week day in the mid afternoon. For twenty-four years Daniel Valverde Granados has lived in Platanillo and worked at Hacienda Barú. His work day begins at 6:00 AM, which means he has to leave home around 4:00. The ride down takes less than an hour, putting him at Hacienda Barú before sunrise. That leaves an hour to drink coffee and chat with his fellow workers, who usually begin arriving at 5:00. After eight hours of swinging a machete, building fence, planting trees and driving a tractor, Daniel again mounts his bicycle and begins the grueling uphill ride back to Platanillo, this time an hour and a half ride. As you might suspect, with an exercise-filled day like Daniel’s, he is in excellent physical condition. Now that he has decided to retire, he is worried about getting fat.