Recently Viewed
Cooking Class 'Cook Like a Local' La Fortuna: Authentic Costa Rican Cuisine Experience
4.5
64 Ratings
La Fortuna de San Carlos
Immerse yourself in Costa Rican culture through its cuisine with our ‘Cook Like a Local’ cooking class in La Fortuna. Learn to make traditional dishes and enjoy a memorable meal!
Immerse yourself in Costa Rican culture through its cuisine with our ‘Cook Like a Local’ cooking class in La Fortuna. Learn to make traditional dishes and enjoy a memorable meal!
Duration:
2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Hunters & Gatherers Costa Rica - We’ll pick you up from your hotel and drive about 5 minutes to an exclusive, hidden out place next to the enchanting El Salto waterfall near downtown La Fortuna. Upon arrival to your Costa Rica Cooking Class, you’ll learn about the garden and farm where the fresh cooking ingredients come from. To get started,…
- Hunters & Gatherers Costa Rica - We’ll pick you up from your hotel and drive about 5 minutes to an exclusive, hidden out place next to the enchanting El Salto waterfall near downtown La Fortuna. Upon arrival to your Costa Rica Cooking Class, you’ll learn about the garden and farm where the fresh cooking ingredients come from. To get started, you’ll try your hand at mixing up a delicious homemade tropical Costa Rican cocktail
- our famous Kiss of the Cacique! You will then get ready to learn how to cook up some Tico-style “picadillos,” tortillas and “guisados” for a delicious sit-down
- “Casado” meal and plenty of captivating conversation!
After dinner, relax with a cup of coffee, share some recipes and head back to your hotel to dream about the scrumptious Tico food you’ll recreate back home!
What's Included
- Cooking class
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Dinner
- Cooking class
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Dinner
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Gratuities
Meal Options
- Casado - You’ll be gathering all of the farm fresh ingredients and chopping up vegetables from local providers and creating a delicious “Casado” meal.
- Casado - You’ll be gathering all of the farm fresh ingredients and chopping up vegetables from local providers and creating a delicious “Casado” meal.
Additional Information
Traveling abroad offers a unique sense of authenticity when one truly experiences the local way of life. Every culture expresses itself through its food, and the people of Costa Rica are no exception – it extends well beyond the stereotypical ‘rice and beans.’ We extend a warm invitation for you to savor an authentic meal prepared in the Costa Rican…
Traveling abroad offers a unique sense of authenticity when one truly experiences the local way of life. Every culture expresses itself through its food, and the people of Costa Rica are no exception – it extends well beyond the stereotypical ‘rice and beans.’ We extend a warm invitation for you to savor an authentic meal prepared in the Costa Rican tradition, which will likely stand out as the most memorable dining experience of your trip! Take part in crafting the beloved Costa Rican cocktail, the ‘Kiss of the Cacique,’ followed by cooking a hearty traditional ‘casado’ feast. You’ll create dishes such as ‘pollo sudado’ and ‘picadillo,’ along with handcrafted tortillas and more!
- Minimum age is 5 years old.
- Please let us know if you have any allergies or food restrictions. We have options for gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, etc,
Location
La Fortuna de San Carlos
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.5
(64 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
685olesyab
Aug 10, 2025
Cooking and salsa combo lesson - Our family took this incredible cooking and dancing class with Katherine on our last day in La Fortuna. It was raining outside which added the charm to the evening. The place looks like a big gazebo, with covered roof and open two sides, so you could listen and see the rain, so cozy! We cooked a traditional Costa Rican dish, which consisted of chicken rice, refried beans, hand made corn tortillas and rice pudding for dessert. Katherine made the atmosphere so nice and fun. Everyone had a little job to do and then came together to create a delicious meal, we all enjoyed. After the cooking class the magic continued with a salsa dance lesson. That was so much fun! Our stiffness melted with Katherine’s gentle instructions and by the end of the lesson we almost mastered 🤣 the figure of eight moves, and spins.
I would definitely do this activity again! Thank you Kathrine for the beautiful evening
Review provided by Tripadvisor
M9602guchristophers
Aug 8, 2025
Fun time with easy and authentic instruction! - Kathy and her stuff could not have been kinder or more welcoming! The dishes were relatively simple, which made them easy to create in a group setting like this. There was plenty to do, so everyone got to be hands-on and get a true 'feel' for how to make the recipes. The setting was awesome because the kitchen was a covered area outdoors amongst the beautiful trees. All in all, it was a fun time and Kathy was kind enough to share the recipes with us via e-mail after the class so that we could make the dishes at home. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gayle_r
Aug 3, 2025
Come with a good... - Come with a good appetite. We loved sharing this experience with the others signed up for it. Food was basic but very tasty. Host did a great job.
Review provided by Viator
Debsy7015wj
Jul 29, 2025
Buen Provecho ! - This was a fun, low-key cooking experience. Our family of 7, including 11 and 13 year old grandsons, enjoyed this hands-on activity. A lovely event for our last evening in La Fortuna. We were joined by nine other people for a total of 16 guests at this activity, from all over the world. Preparing food together is just a warm, friendly activity to create a festive atmosphere.
Kathy and her team were wonderful and engaging. She included customs and traditions of the locals. This was not a gourmet class. This is classic Costa Rican home cooking. We made tortillas, pico gallo, beans, rice and the traditional Chayote squash dish, fried plantains and specialty cocktails with passion fruit and local rum(opt). I just have received these recipes from Kathy with a beautiful note! Pura Vida!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jean_k
Jul 26, 2025
Fun food experience - This is a hands on activity. You'll get to help prepare all elements of the meal. The ingredients are fresh and local. The dishes are traditional Costa Rican foods. We had a great time. Our instructor, Jenny, explained everything clearly and was very engaging.
Review provided by Viator
Dawnme4973gk
Jun 8, 2025
Fun night out - Great cooking class and Salsa dance class for a couple! - Kathy was an excellent teacher, sharing so many authentic local facts about farming, cuisine/ingredients, and local customs! Super fun for a couple! We also took her salsa dance class, and enjoyed it immensely.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carlyl354
May 17, 2025
Great excursion. - This was a wonderful excursion. It was a semi-private class (4 of us) with a wonderful teacher, Jenny. We made a delicious meal and learned about Costa Rican cuisine. Highly recommend this company!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
O9309kcnancyh
May 6, 2025
Jennie is a wonderful chef and teacher - Jennie was an amazing chef, instructor and host ! Her expert guidance throughout our meal preparation resulted in a delicious dinner. She shared so much interesting information about the ingredients, how they were sourced and how to modify if certain ingredients were not available. She taught a really fun class and is a wonderful instructor. Thank you Jennie !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mika
May 6, 2025
Learn how to make a Costa Rican meal with a talented chef - We had an unforgettable cooking experience with Chef Jenny. I was so impressed by how a meal that was seemingly prepared with very simple ingredients could be so incredibly tasty. Jenny was a great instructor and made the whole process go so smoothly- an entire feast was prepared before we knew it. It was fun to eat as a group and meet new people too. Jenny also served a dessert that was her own creation and served a refreshing blackberry juice with dinner. It was the best meal I had on this trip! Would highly recommend this experience to anyone looking for a fun and delicious evening.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lexibelle
Jul 17, 2025
Delicious cooking - We wanted to learn how to cook like a local so we can enjoy some of these delicious dishes at home. Kathy was a great host and teacher. She had all of us help prep and prepare the meals. We learned how to make several yummy dishes. All of it was great. She also sent us the recipes via email which is great to have.
I highly recommend this experience.
We had an issue with pick up for the class and that is why I knocked one star off. Not due to Kathy and her class but the organizer was not very organized.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
