Mario Balotelli, the Azzurri‘s star striker, was born in Sicily, in our minds the undisputed capital of chocolate production in Italy, and one of the few places you can find chocolate produced in Europe based on ancient Mesoamerican recipes. Yet Italy’s opponents today, the Ticos of Costa Rica, now hold claim to an ancient chocolate renaissance of their own. Chocolate has been grown in Costa Rica for thousands of years, and was considered so valuable it was utilized as a medium of exchange prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s. Cacao plantations were common fixtures across the country until the 1970s, when a fungus called monilia began to decimate the crop. Nearly 90% of Costa Rica’s cacao crops succumbed to the disease – but now they are making a comeback. The Tico Times provides the exciting (and well-researched) narrative behind the work of Costa Rica’s Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), and their work to cultivate strains of cacao resistant to the fungus. The resultant work has led to a boom in Costa Rican chocolate, made all the more popular by the country’s commitment to fair working conditions and environmental sustainability (which cannot be said for production practices in other major cacao production centers, especially in western Africa). Now, visitors to Costa Rica have many different ways to experience the country’s resurgent chocolate culture, from chocolate tours and agricultural volunteering, to a wide range of chocolate-influenced foods, to just tasting the offerings at a respected retailer like Sibú. We are lucky enough to be heading to Costa Rica in December, so we will definitely experience as much of the new chocolate culture as we can!
Rainforest Chocolate Tour sign just outside Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica.
Cafe Costa Rica
CCR inhabits a former house in downtown Madison, decked out in party chairs and fake plastic palm trees outside that must make for a kitschy but amusing summer evening, yet were no good on this chilly and rainy night. We were concerned when we walked into the seating area downstairs, mostly because CCR turned out to be one of the tiniest restaurant’s we’ve been in (about the same size as 
First good sign: they grow their own habaneros. In little plants right on the main counter. People familiar with M’s culinary escapades can imagine how excited he was at this. Second good sign: The table has two bottles of salsa, but homemade, one based on said habaneros (“Mango Man Sauce”) – meaning the peppers are not for decor, they actually use them in cooking. As such, the menu piqued our interest. We decided to mix it up as much as we could given our budget. For appetizers, a plate of fried plantains (an ETW favorite) with the aforementioned habanero sauce ($5.95) and a cheese empanada ($3.95). Main course: we split an order of pork tacos (under the assumption that one order ($11.95) would be enough for both of us.
The plantains were soft, sweet, and delightful, and the habanero sauce added a good flavorful kick. M could have eaten three plates of them and called it dinner. L was enamored with the empanada, soft and cheesy and flaky, doing good on her cheese/carbs combo love. But it was really those tacos that blew us away: piled high with shredded pork marinated in the habanero sauce, garnished with generous helpings of cilantro (another ETW fav we can never get enough of), lettuce, tomatoes, and more habanero sauce in a corn tortilla. The marinade absolutely made the meal, and we were really happy to see someone making tacos in corn tortillas that really broke out of the ubiquitous Mexican mold into other regions, and to do it so well.
Eating The World 