Chorreadas and Costa Rica

Hello.

Young children have their own unique perspective on art-making. I have been working with children between the ages of three and six at a Montessori school for over a decade, visiting each classroom a handful of times during the course of the school year. They refer to me as their “artist in residence” even though my projects are unrelated to my own work. The children prefer creating images that depict something that is real as opposed to anything that is abstract, with rainbows and butterflies at the top of the list. Smiley faces are popular and I have seen many grins added to a painting of a fish. They like their work to be perfectly centered on the page, and enjoy stirring the jar of paint until the brush can not hold another drop. If you offer them six colors, they will sample all six, as the process is as important to them as the look of the completed work.

Each school year I am tasked with making art with the children that can be collaged together and auctioned at the school’s annual fundraiser. They pick a different country of study and the auction pieces represent some aspect of that country’s history, climate, or wildlife. For several years our auction was run by a parent and former auctioneer at Sotheby's. He would entertain the bidders by throwing in obscure, tongue-in-cheek references to art history and driving the bidding higher and higher. Our focus this year is Costa Rica.

The Kindergarteners just finished making these layered monoprints that conveniently wound up looking very much like a child’s version of Costa Rican ox-cart wheels that are painted in vivid colors with meticulous detail. They used sponge brushes, three colors of acrylic paint, Q-tips, and CDs to create circular designs.  I had to explain to some of the children what a CD is. They brushed the paint onto the CD, impressed designs with the Q-tips, and printed each of the three colors directly on top of one another.  At the end, they decorated their prints with white dots. The prints will be this year’s Kindergarten auction piece.

The Chorreada is a Costa Rican corn pancake that is either sweet and topped with honey or savory and served with sour cream. In Costa Rica, it is a popular street food or side dish served in small restaurants. Traditionally, white or yellow corn was removed from the cob, cooked, and then ground with a mortar and pestle to make the pancakes. The recipes that I found differed greatly; some did not include the egg that I used and the amount of added flour varied. Most recommended canned corn if fresh was not available, but I was successful using frozen although I look forward to trying them with fresh corn on the cob this summer. Plus, I used a food processor, but a blender would be fine too.

Savory Chorreadas

Ingredients

2 c. frozen corn, defrosted and at room temperature

1 egg

1/2 t. salt

2 T. flour

3 T. milk

2-3 T. vegetable oil

Recipe

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well mixed. The batter will be slightly lumpy because of the corn. Heat an eight-inch fry pan on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. Add a coating of oil. Heat the oil. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan using a circular motion and tip the pan to spread the batter or use the back of a spoon. The chorreadas will be about 6 inches in diameter. Cook for about two minutes on the first side. Using a spatula lift the edge to check for browning. Flip and cook on the other side for just shy of two minutes.

My husband and I had the chorreadas along with a bowl of chili on Sunday. They have a nice spongey texture and were a fun, easy alternative side dish.

Thank you for reading, liking, sharing, and commenting!

Vicki