The World Cup Food Challenge - Day 13, Costa Rica (Ceviche)

There has been some mention of a certain midsummer's party in a previous post, or rather in several posts. Specifically, I mentioned serving my Day 9 (England) meal, while watching Costa Rica beat Italy and thus sending England home. At the table, I was sat across from an Italian (who was non too bothered about the results of the football) and next to a girl who was, however, quite into the match. It turned out that she was part Costa Rican, ...although I suppose she still is! At first, that bit of information registered merely as an explanation as to why she was cheering on Costa Rica. When suddenly, something clicked in my head - Costa Rica! Like most people who have been subject to my very, very sudden and very, very obvious delight at finding out their nationality or any links they may have to certain countries in these past two weeks, she too had a look of amused confusion, or perhaps it was confused amusement, at my interrogation on the food and recipes of Costa Rica. I think she may also have been just slightly concerned. She hesitated, saying that it was difficult to say what is really Costa Rican, but then she decided. To her, that is Costa Rican and so that was what I should make. And what she decided on what, ceviche.

I frantically typed in the ingredients into my phone, trying to keep up with the pace of her rattling them off. After telling me to mix the ingredients together and to leave it for at least an hour, she stopped. And I wondered, was she going to tell me what to do with the ingredients after that? I mean, do I fry, boil, grill, bake, cover in cheese and chocolate or what? I had never had ceviche, so I did not know how it is or rather is not cooked. Then my ignorance quickly became clear. Nothing more is done to the dish. It comes out of the refrigerator and is good to go. The lemon and lime apparently triggers the same process in the proteins which happens with cooking, and that was it.

I must admit, I was sceptical. Not because of the uncooked fish; I do not have a problem with that at all, what with all the sushi and sashimi, and yee sang at Chinese New Year. It was more that every thing else would also be uncooked. I am not the biggest fan of paprika on the best of occasions. I would quite happily eat them, mind you, but I just do not really manage to enjoy too much of it at one time. Then there's the raw onions. I am happy with a bit of raw onion on a sandwich - I always go for onion on any of my Subway sandwiches,- but I don't like raw onion in a salad, for example. What I took issue with most though, was the coriander. Lots and lots of coriander, she said. I interrupted her then to ask, "does it have to be coriander?" She looked at me, briefly stunned then uncompromising. Apparently, it is the lots and lots of coriander which make the dish. And no, I could not replace it with lots and lots something else. All right, I thought, no problem. Except for the one problem that I really, really actively dislike coriander. I am one of those people who would sit there with my nose pinched up and my jaw clenched, as I pull out every last bit of coriander leaves from my plate. I take particular objection to coriander being used as a garnish - if it is not there because it is essential to the dish, why spoil everything else with it?

So there I was with a dilemma - what do I do about this? But then I told myself, as I have had more than one occasion to since starting this World Cup Food Challenge, that if I want a recommendation from a local, I should just follow it. What would be the point otherwise? And I have been so glad to have discovered all the new food, and new combinations of food which I would have never dreamt to try before. So really, all I had to do was to just roll with it. At worse, if I really did not like it, it is one meal in my life. What is the big deal? All well and good, but what really convinced me, was remembering how excited she was when she talked about it. And so, determined and excited, I set off to the supermarket. I say, set off, I mean stopped by on the way home from work. I was in search of fish. I had read up about ceviche and it appears that the fish is essential. The wrong fish or not fresh fish could ruin the whole dish. My part Costa Rican fellow midsummer's party guest said specifically that she like halibut (hällefundra in Swedish, which I think is halibut in English). I seem to recall that I quite like halibut, although I am sure I would not recognise it if someone hit me on the nose with it or if I choked on its bones. Undaunted, I marched up to the fish counter at the supermarket, feeling quite pleased that there was a supermarket in the vicinity with a fish counter, and asked for hällefundra. "We don't have it", came the short (in length and in tone) reply. All right, no worries, I half expected that, but she should be able to tell me if they had something similar. You would think, wouldn't you? It being a fish counter and all. Nope, wrong. She could tell me that they had some cod, which is also a white fish, but she refused to tell me if it was similar or comparable to hällefundra or not. No, she could not help me, no. You would think that I stopped some random person in the desert to ask their advice on fish. Annoyed, I left the supermarket and went home. I had some frozen fish at home. I could not remember what it was, but it was a white fish, that much I knew. It turned out to be hoki, which I decided would work well enough and started my dish.

Ceviche

Ingredients (for 1 portion)
(I had no quantities to go on for this recipe, other than "lots and lots of...", so I went with just what I thought seemed right, both in terms of taste and colour - presentation, after all, matters.)
Hoki (about two small fillets)
1 small red paprika
1 small yellow paprika
1 small yellow onion
1 small shallot
Garlic
Fresh Tomatoes (I used a handful of mixed cocktail tomatoes)
Fresh coriander, lots and lots of
Lime, lots and lots of
Lemon, lots and lots of
Having read a few other recipes, I also added juice of one orange and about 100 ml of dry ginger ale. And a bit of salt and pepper at the end.

Method
1. Chop all ingredients into small cubes and mix all together.
2. Squeeze lime and lemon (and orange, if using) over everything.
3. Leave to stand (refrigerated) for at least an hour. (Some recipes say longer, I left it in maybe about an hour and a half. I checked on it and added the dry ginger ale sometime in between.)

Verdict: Success! I loved it! There was so much flavour to it, much more than I expected. The only problem I had though, was the acidity. I generally have a rather acidic stomach anyway, so I really am meant to avoid sour foods, especially if I am hungry or have not had any food in a while. Both was definitely true by the time my ceviche was ready. I had to have something else afterwards to hopefully soak up some of the acidity, which I think worked because I did not have any problems. Next time, I will make sure I have something to line my stomach before I have this. Cheese and crackers, perhaps! And, as indicated by my already planning the next occasion, it is safe to say that there will be a next time. This is also one for keeps!