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The El Fogón De Chela Cooking Class in La Fortuna gets tons of rave reviews. But does it live up to the hype? Come along and find out.

In our travels around the world, we have taken several cooking classes to learn about other cuisines. We made fresh pasta in Tuscany and we made Spring Rolls in Thailand.

During our time in Costa Rica, we kept hearing other travelers raving very enthusiastically about the El Fogón De Chela Costa Rica Cooking Class in La Fortuna.

So we decided to check it out. Would it live up to the hype? When I checked Trip Advisor 3 weeks out, it was already sold out for most of the dates we were going to be in La Fortuna – a good sign for the class, but bad news for us.

So I grabbed two of the remaining spots and booked them before they were gone. Hurray! Now I could learn first hand if it really was as good as everyone said. Come along and find out with us!

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Costa Rica Cooking Class – The Food Prep

The cooking space in the kitchen where our Costa Rica Cooking class was held.

When we arrived at the El Fogón De Chela Costa Rica Cooking Class, we met the other participants – Ana and Aliyah who were also visiting from the States. They were super fun young ladies and we enjoyed spending our evening with them.

Chela, the owner of the business, handed us a cookbook and asked us to decide which Costa Rican food we wanted to make.

We each got to choose from 16 food items, but then we cooked family style and we got to sample all of them at the end.

A cookbook showing one of the options we could choose to make for our Costa Rica Cooking Class.

Chela also offered us a selection of wine, beer and other beverages to sip on while we worked. The ladies and I had some hibiscus and ginger wine – it was really sweet and delicious! Bill choose a Costa Rican beer.

Video where Owner Chela explains what we will be making and the vegetables we need to chop to get started. — Click to watch video

Chela went on to explain all of the foods we would be making and the vegetables we need to chop to prepare for the cooking. Click the image at left to open the video in a new window.

The vegetables all come from her gardens on the property. Because it was pouring rain that day, she had already picked them for us. But normally, class participants go out to pick them fresh from the garden.

Now it’s time to get chopping! While we chopped, we enjoyed sipping the beverages and getting to know the others.

A Green type of Peppers are chopped into small pieces.

Kari & Bill each work on chopping different vegetables with knives.

Costa Rica Cooking Class – Time to cook!

Now it’s time to cook all the food we’ve prepped. Because we are cooking Chela’s grandmother’s recipes, we are also using the wood fire stove that she used for cooking. The fire was burning beneath the metal hearth and oh-my-goodness, it was super HOT!

Flames leap out of the metal stove when the cover is removed. The entire metal surface is super hot.

Kari stirs food in a metal pan over steaming heat.

Bill holds a pan up while he stirs the food in it.

All of the items were cooked in oil over the hot stove. Some simmered for awhile, others were quickly cooked and set aside. Chela kept track of everything and we four students did as instructed. Soon the delicious smells were wafting over the kitchen and our tummies were getting hungry.

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Costa Rica Cooking Class – Fritas and Empanadas

While the food was simmering, Chela showed us how to make the pastry for the Fritas and the Empanadas.

Click the video at right to see how she demonstrated.

Video of Chela showing us how to make the pastry for Spinach Fritas - it involves lots of turning and shaping. — Click to watch the video

Bill carefully shapes the frita pastry with his hands

It took us awhile as it was a little more challenging than it looked. Bill carefully pressed the pastry while turning it slowly.

Once the pastry was prepared, we piled cheese on top and folded it in half, pinching the edges to seal. Then we lightly fried it in oil.

Costa Rica Cooking Class – Time to Enjoy!

Once the food was all prepared, it was time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We could take whatever we wanted from the massive amount we had cooked family-style. Our wine glasses were refilled and we settled in to enjoy the fresh Costa Rican food.

yellow diced vegetables with onions and peppers mixed in = Ceviche de platano — Ceviche de platano = Plaintain Ceviche

Yellow rice with chicken pieces. — Ceviche de platano = Plaintain Ceviche

Our group of 5 people settle down at a long table to eat the food we've created — Bon Appetit!! Chela in front, Bill, Kari, Ana and Aliyah at the table

A plate full of colorful food and a fork. — My plate of colorful and tasty food.

A plate with some eaten food on it and an almost empty wine glass. — My plate of colorful and tasty food.

Seriously, fresh food tastes so good, especially when we got to participate in making it. Everything was delicious and we couldn’t even finish what was on our plates. My favorites were the Pescado en salsa, the Empandas and the Picadillo de chayote – Soooo tasty!

Costa Rica Cooking Class – How to Sign Up

If you are going to be spending time in La Fortuna / Arenal, then I HIGHLY recommend you sign up for the El Fogón De Chela Costa Rica Cooking Class. Most of her reservations are taken through Trip Advisor and she books up really fast. So don’t wait, book as soon as you know your dates in La Fortuna / Arenal.

Click to Check Availability Here

Chela offers her classes at different times of the day. We chose the 6:00 PM class for dinner.

So Did It Live Up to the Hype?

Yes, it definitely did! The El Fogón De Chela Costa Rica Cooking Class offered us a chance to learn how to prepare delicious fresh Costa Rican food, and we got a recipe book so we can re-create those same recipes when we get home. We enjoyed spending time with Chela and learning more about her Abuela (grandmother) and her life growing up in Costa Rica.

If you have time while in La Fortuna, I definitely recommend signing up for this Costa Rica Cooking Class!

More Info on Costa Rica

Here are some more posts about Costa Rica, including some that I’m still working on. If you’d like to receive emails when I’ve posted new content to the site, please complete the short form above.

Monteverde / Santa Elena Rainforest Area

Manuel Antonio / Quepos Area

La Fortuna / Arenal Volcano Area