Taste of Arenal – Chocolate Cacao Farm andTraditional Flavors with Dona Mara Tour

Let your expert local guide immerse you in a fantastic all -senses experience exploring the food and culture of the Arenal Volcano area. Start the day with local cacao farmers as they take visitors on a delicious journey in the chocolate-making process from bean to bar (chocolate bar!). Next learn how to cook like a Costa Rican with a hands-on cooking experience with tortillas, gallos (small bites), and local hot sauce in the kitchen of Dona Mara

Start the day with a visit to a local cacao farm at the base of the Arenal Volcano. From farm to bar, your guide will walk you through the chocolate process, complete with a chocolate tasting and mixing. This interactive tour introduces you to cacao trees, and fruit harvesting, and finishes with a hands-on journey through roasting, processing, and mixing allowing guests to make their own chocolate products. At the end of the farm visit, guests will enjoy a culinary journey to celebrate the delicious and traditional foods of Costa Rica. A visit to the kitchen of Dona Mara will be the highlight of your visit to the Arenal Volcano area. Our private authentic cooking experience, set in the kitchen of Dona Mara in the heart of the Chachagua rainforest, is the perfect place to learn about Costa Rican food and get a taste of the flavors of local traditions.

Dona Mara, a local woman from the Chachagua region near the Arenal Volcano,  will welcome you into her kitchen and present the day’s menu. Dona Mara is well known in the area for her delicious local cuisine. Learn alongside her how to prepare delicious “Tortillas Caseras” (Tortillas made by hand) from grinding the corn to hand patting the tortillas to toasting them on her wood-burning stove.

Guests will also see what it takes to prepare local Chilera from scratch. “Chileras” are a local homemade hot sauce blend of vegetables, spices and peppers and found on every Costa Rican table. Learn the blends and secrets to create your own chilera. After the tortillas come off the wood burning stove, guests will enjoy the fruits of the work and enjoy a lunch of hearty tortillas served with a a mix of “gallos”- small traditional dishes of picadillos ( vegetable and meat hash) made with potatoes, arracacha and green papayas, meats in sauce, local cheeses and sometimes smokey chorizo. Come to the table and savor  all of authentic local specialties on Dona Maras open-air terrace .

Tour Duration: Approx. 5 hours