Batidas, a Costa Rican Treat

Soursop Fruit. Photo by Damien Boilley

One does not often hear people extolling the food of Costa Rica, as they would in countries such as Mexico, France or Italy. But Costa Rica has some amazing taste treats too.

Visit a farmers market or a grocery store anywhere to Costa Rica to see the amazing array of fresh fruits that are available. Lenny Karpman in his book, “Feasting and Foraging in Costa Rica”, indicates that there are 50 to 60 different tropical fruits that are sold in Mesoamerica. The variety and prices of these fruits will astound you.

Batidas are popular fruit drinks in Costa Rica similar to smoothies or milk shakes. Batidas can be made with fruit alone, with water, with water and ice or with milk (in Spanish indicated as de leche or con leche). If the fruits are tart, then commonly sugar or some type of additional sweetener is added.

Batidas are fun healthy drinks that are available in many of the restaurants in Costa Rica and you can even make it at home with the help of a blender. Often even “picky” children are willing to try some of these fun drinks.

Some of the fruits used in batidas are common ones that are available in North America. pineapple (in spanish piña), orange (in Spanish naranja) and banana (in Spanish banano) are quite popular drinks that are often served.

One of the fruits that is fairly common in North America, but rarely seen on breakfast menus is mora, which North Americans know as blackberries. This is a delicious pinkish colored drink that is served both with milk and with ice. Other batidas may include papaya, mango or carrot and orange (in Spanish zanahoria con naranja) combined.

With limonada (lemonade) one needs to be careful. The word limon in Costa Rica actually refers to limes and lemons are not common. So when ordering limonada, you may get a lemon or a lime drink. Either way it will be great.

My favorite batida is guanábana which is also called soursop fruit. The guanábana is an oval green fruit with spikes. The fruit weighs approximately five to six pounds. The skin of this fruit is too bitter to be eaten and the black seeds are toxic. The pure white flesh however when carefully seeded and sweetened is delicious. This fruit is used not only in Costa Rica but throughout Latin America. It is found in batidas, yogurt, ice cream and even some carbonated beverages. Treat yourself to one with our without milk while you are here. If you look you may also be able to find this fruit juice now in North America.