Today, August 31^st, Costa Rica celebrates Afro Costa Rican Day, and one of the first activities that many Ticos will undertake this morning will consist of enjoying the most iconic dish of this country. It so happens that gallo pinto, a delicious breakfast that masterfully combines day-old rice and beans with fresh vegetables and spices, is a meal that we owe to Afro Caribbean immigrants in the first quarter of the 20^th century.

The “gallo pinto” name of the recipe may not sound Afro Costa Rican, and there is a good reason for this. In a 2007 investigative article written by Iliana Varela for the defunct Proa Sunday magazine of national newspaper La Nacion, The naming of this breakfast happened as follows: In the third decade of the 20^th century, a farm owner in San Sebastian, today a southern suburb of San Jose, planned to cook a gallo (rooster) that he had been fattening for a few months. The rooster’s plumage was spotted (pinto); however, as fat as the yard bird was, it was not enough to feed all the people who showed up for the meal.

The kitchen staff then came up with the idea to mix a large batch of rice and beans to make sure that people would not go hungry, and thus many guests did not get to taste the bird and instead ate a mixture of rice and beans. In the days that followed the ill-fated dinner party, unsatiated guests would jokingly tell each other: “So, how was that gallo pinto the other day?”

The actual culinary practice of mixing rice and beans was brought to Costa Rica by Jamaican immigrants, who were used to enjoying a combination of rice and peas, which was created on the slave ships that sailed from Angola to the West Indies. When Jamaican railroad workers arrived in Costa Rica prior to 1930, they found a surplus of rice and black beans, but not peas; nonetheless, the early Afro Costa Ricans made do with what they had and created the venerable “rice and beans” recipe from the province of Limon.

In the literary masterpiece Mamita Yunai by Carlos Luis Fallas, gallo pinto was described as a morning meal featuring cooked, day-old rice and beans, accompanied by boiled or grilled plantains and coffee. Once this morning rice and beans recipe made it to the Central Valley, it began to transform: gone was the coconut oil, and certain vegetables and spices were introduced. The cheaper black beans replaced the red beans, and the delicious side dishes such as grilled slices of fresh cheese, fried salchichon (sausage), sour cream, and tortillas were introduced, and they were meant to be enjoyed with a cup of fresh brewed (strained) coffee.

The next time you enjoy breakfast in Costa Rica, take a moment to reflect upon its revered Afro Caribbean origin.