A carniceria down the street has a wood burning rotisserie wherein they cook whole chickens everyday. We're in Costa Rica. They also sell chunks of roast pork and fresh chicharrones. Their fresh meat has been fine. We've bought a couple of whole chickens a couple times. They come with fresh, home made tortillas. They taste fine, but my wife and I were talking about how they should have more smoke flavor being cooked with wood. The oven must have a powerful exhaust, fortunately.

I was walking home a few minutes ago, taking pictures along the way. I passed by their rotisserie, which is right off the sidewalk and could see the wood fire and the chicken cooking away.

What's wrong in these photos?

Is that plywood?

a little PT chromate wont hurt you. Also, probably the least toxic thing slipping into your food sources there.

mmmmmm.....hot glue

looks like it's set up like an asado. So, they are utilizing the heat but not so much the smoke.

Ha - just noticed the plywood!

Looks like plywood lumber… plenty of carcinogens in there.

Don't ask about your drinking water.

Bingo! I've eaten my last chicken from that place! We had chicken from that place last night. Fortunately no smoke flavor. I was planning on eating leftovers for lunch in a few minutes until I saw that.

FWIW, we have found some excellent chorizo down here. You can't find chile powder to save your life and there isn't a single fresh chile to be found except for a few over ripe jalapenos w/ little flavor. Fortunately, I brought a variety of chile seeds.

Actually, the tap water is safe to drink. It tastes chlorinated, but better than what I've experienced in some places in Texas. San Jose has a large water treatment facility. I still use a filter for drinking, though. Outside of town, we're sticking with bottled water.

Whenever I'm cooking for a crowd and get asked what wood I'm using, I usually say, "landscape timbers and RR ties." They think I'm being secretive, but truth is most people can't tell the difference and I don't usually sort it except for hardwood vs softwood. I'll have to add a new category for plywood!

Anyone remember when THAT GUY made jalapeño poppers at Chili-Fest with galvanized nails stuck through them?!

What an idiot - right DUMAN?

Yeah, that's not great!

We haven't been in a long time, but I recall being very surprised at how bland the food was in CR. The fresh fruits were of course amazing, but the complete lack of spice and very minimal seasoning was definitely unexpected.

Those also look like some pretty mature chickens they have going there. I would suggest taking the leftovers to the bridge in Tarcoles and feeding them to the crocs. At least you used to be able to do that years ago. I haven't seen anyone do that in the last four years that we have been going down there.

Ironically, two of the best pizza places I have ever had were in Costa Rica. One in Monteverde, and one in Puerto Viejo. We are going to La Fortuna for a few days in two weeks. Cannot wait.

Yep, fresh fruits are terrific. They export all their good coffee here, the food is mild. I'm used to Tex Mex, New Mexico and authentic Mexican food so I'm not impressed with the food here so far. It's not bad, just mildly flavored. I have poblanos, hatch chiles, chile de aguas, serranos sprouting right now. I don't know if they're going to get enough sunshine to grow much. It's always in the 70's and some of these chilis need to be in warmer weather. I can't plant them outside because they'll get too much water once the rainy season begins in a few months.

Yep, fresh fruit (esp pina), picadillo, potatoes, savory plantains, and coffee are what I remember as really good. Didn't care that most places seemed to slightly sweeten the black beans with a touch of sugar.

Plantains fried are really good. We bought a bag of coffee at the local farmers market and it was slightly sweetened.

Also, I haven't seen a white onion since I left Oregon. The carrots here can easily be three inches in diameter.
Lunch is the big meal down here. All the women are busy preparing this meal right now and the air is alive with the smells of stews, beans, fried foods, grilled foods. I'm fixing to eat a ham sandwich, but am really in the mood for a good Chinese buffet back home.

That larger piece of wood almost looks like OSB, but I can't really tell with my contacts on.

To quote Kenny Rogers Roasters: "It's the wood that makes it good!"

Just out of curiosity, where are you living down there? We prefer the southern pacific area near Quepos/Dominical, but we have not found an area that we do not like yet.

I guess my question is, what type of wood did you expect them to be using? Just about all the hardwoods down there are grown, guarded, and exported for woodworking right? I mean scrap building wood is probably a better alternative (for fuel) than the softwoods and fibrous palms growing around there.

While I get what your saying, I would be surprised if that isn't the norm outside of charcoal or coal. From the outside looking in it kinda comes off as silly American moves to 3rd world country and is appalled they do things like a 3rd world country outside of the resorts for tourists.

marcel ledbetter said:

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It's always in the 70's and some of these chilis need to be in warmer weather. I can't plant them outside because they'll get too much water once the rainy season begins in a few months.

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Maybe throw up a simple 2x4 frame with some 6mil greenhouse plastic over to get you higher temps and control the watering schedule.

We're in San Jose. We haven't had a chance to get out of the city except for a local park on the edge of town. There is some really neat plant life/diversity around here. It interesting to be in a forest composed of tropical hardwood and pine/cedar mix at the same time. If you go higher, you can encounter fir/spruce type trees.

There is plenty of hardwood down here so accumulating enough to feed a wood fired rotisserie is a non issue. Not all of it is marketable. The little greenhouse idea would be a good idea, but we don't have a yard. Like many of the houses in our neighborhood, our house/garage occupies every square foot of the property right up to the sidewalk. Some houses are built without much of a garage in order to make room for a patio/garden area.

When we lived in Belize it was pretty common to see plywood, OSB and pressure treated lumber laying on the ground by the grilled chicken and lobster stands at the city park in San Pedro and on Caye Caulker. I didn't sample any of the food.

I'm not so sure I'm concerned about the safety so much as the taste. Plywood is generally pine. I know they are many using hardwood plywoods over there.

RED AG 98 said:

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Yeah, that's not great!

We haven't been in a long time, but I recall being very surprised at how bland the food was in CR. The fresh fruits were of course amazing, but the complete lack of spice and very minimal seasoning was definitely unexpected.

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I remember having beans, rice and cilantro for breakfast lunch and dinner when we visited CR.

Can you do a rooftop garden of any type?

"My chicken's the star of the show."

The roof is corrugated metal and sloped to drain the massive rains they get here. Time doesn't permit me to devote much effort to the plants aside from keeping them in good soil and available sunlight. I will, however, continue the search for dried chiles or chile powder. We just became aware of an Indian grocery store that ought to carry something. I can get cayenne pepper so I can make my own Cajun seasoning once the stuff I brought runs out.

Last night I went to a get together with men from a local Spanish church we attend. They grilled a bunch of meat outside while the pastor gave a short message. I was served a six inch chorizo link, a six inch salchicha (their version of a hot dog about 1.25" in diameter), and a carne asada steak, along with tortillas and a baked potato. They can serious about eating down here. After that, they gave me another steak for desert. It was all good stuff. The steak had a great flavor. Their beef isn't finished in a feed lot and has a different flavor that I like.

Dang. Didn't realize that you moved from Burns! We never got our quail/chucker hunt in… life gets in the way of good hunting too much for me!

The last two seasons would have been great! Lot's of birds. The big problem is needing a small safari expedition to get to where they're at. I'll miss chukar hunting, and elk hunting.

There's quail down here in Costa Rica, but they don't allow hunting.

A steak for dessert!!!

Back in my contracting days, many was the time on a cold day when plasterers and laborers would be spotted warming tacos on a sheet of painted 3.5 metal lath over a lumber scraps campfire. I think all the drugs and alcohol may have created an immunity.

I'm confused. How do we get all the photos from the pacific northwest lunch room if it's actually a south American street vendor?

I don't live in the PNW anymore. The view from the lunchroom has changed, but I'll keep adding shots when I get a chance.