Up until recently I didn't now how many people went into making a Serendipity Adventure trip happen. Many times you don't get to see the "behind the scenes" work put into a trip, but lately I have been able to watch the entire process unfold.
The food preparation process involved many more people, and more time than I expected. It begins in the office, where lists are made, including dietary restrictions, food preferences; drink preferences, among others by the staff.
The next step is to go buy the food. A few times I accompanied Carmen, the lady who does this for Serendipity Adventures. Shopping for food is much different here than it is in the U.S. or Canada. You won't find large grocery stores or supermarkets in smaller towns, instead you will see small shops specializing in just one type of food.
We did our shopping in the town of Turrialba, which is the town closest to the office. We got produce from a shop that only sells fresh fruits and vegetables. In Spanish this place is called a Verduleria. We stopped at another small shop, known by the local people as a Carniceria, that only sells meat, where we picked out what we needed for the menu that day. For items we couldn't find at these specialty shops we went to the small grocery store and stocked up on the rest of the food we needed.
Shopping for food this way takes more time than I am use to, but everything we bought was fresh and grown locally, which makes it worth the extra effort.
After we take the food back to Serendipity's office, Flor, the cook is there ready to begin the meal preparation. Now the new kitchen is put to use, and the next process begins. She has the list of the planned meals, and begins chopping, dicing, and cooking up the food.
The smell of fresh vegetables cooking, herbs, and meats grilling fill the air. Everything is freshly made here, which can sometimes be a very lengthy process, depending on how large the group is. Sometimes it can take her three to five hours to make everything for the trip, and with the purpose of offering a delicious meal, special dishes that everybody can remember during the rest of their Costa Rica vacation, or when they go back home.
Once everything is cooked up and carefully placed into containers it is ready to be served to the adventurous group. Everything is packed up in coolers and taken along with the rest of the equipment for the guided trip. Our guides know how to set up the food in a beautiful way to make the presentation even better, and the food is ready to enjoy, provecho!
