Gallo pinto

Gallo pinto or gallopinto is a traditional dish from Central America. Consisting of rice and beans as a base, gallo pinto has a long history and is important to Costa Rican and Nicaraguan identity and cultures, just as rice and beans variations are equally important in many Latin American cultures as well.

The dish’s main ingredients (rice and beans) are mixed together and paired with other ingredients to give it some spice, like red bell peppers, cilantro, chopped onions, garlic and most importantly Salsa Lizano.

Gallo pinto means "spotted rooster" in Spanish. The name is said to originate in the multi-colored or speckled appearance that results from cooking the rice with black or red beans. The term may also be shortened depending on the region.

Gallo pinto is one of many various Latin American plates which involve the preparation of the most integral ingredients for many cultures: rice and beans. Gallo pinto is considered to be a product of mestizos; a combination of beans, cultivated by Indigenous people of pre-Columbian time, and rice, a grain introduced by the Spanish. The cooking and preparation is heavily influenced by African cooking.