Gallo pinto

My younger daughter worked at a scientific research station in Costa Rica a few years ago, and often joked in her e-mails home about her daily consumption of gallo pinto, the local staple of rice and beans. When I went to visit her, it was on the menu in the dining room for breakfast, lunch, and no doubt dinner, too. I soon acquired the local enthusiasm for the dish and during our travels around the country for a couple of weeks I think we ate gallo pinto almost every day, comparing one ver