Six culinary students will battle to win the second season of the reality show “Costa Rica, a Country of Flavors to Discover” by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), launched this week on the Institution’s Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube channels.
Over six episodes, viewers will watch the competition bringing together six high-level young student participants aged 20 to 26. In the first phase, they will prepare traditional Costa Rican dishes such as picadillo de chicasquil with potato, tender chayote picadillo with sweet corn, green papaya picadillo, palm heart picadillo, green plantain picadillo with green beans and chile panameño, and Caribbean fish with patacones (fried plantains).
In this initial stage, two participants will be eliminated, and the remaining four will advance to the semifinal. There, they will have to choose a mystery recipe from options including potato and meat pie (pastel de papa con carne), meat enyucados, seafood casserole, and gratin palm heart rice (arroz con palmito gratinado). The creators of the two best dishes will advance to the finale.
To determine the winner, the two finalists will each prepare the delicious Limonense rondón with fried cake.
“Gastronomy is one of the travel motivators for tourists who visit us; furthermore, it is part of our essence, history, and tradition. That is why we created this audiovisual material, which also seeks to showcase the country’s future chefs and invite people to discover the country through its flavors and products, activating tourism linkages,” stated Marcos V. Borges, executive president of the ICT.
For Ireth Rodríguez, head of vacation segment promotion at the ICT, this initiative reinforces the “Costa Rica, a Country of Flavors to Discover” strategy, created to motivate domestic tourists to travel and visit multiple destinations in search of new flavors, recipes, stories, Costa Rican traditions, and the varied culinary offerings our country provides.
A Second Season with More Tico Seasoning
The judging panel responsible for selecting the winners in each phase is composed of chef and winner of the 2019 Magón Award, Isabel Campabadal; alongside Mónica Peñaranda, chef at the restaurant Fyah to go; and chef Fabián Vásquez, a gastronomic entrepreneur specializing in private dinners.
For recipe curation, the ICT relied on the support of chef Santiago Fernández, ambassador chef for Esencial Costa Rica and executive chef at Silvestre, Cortnejo Fish, and Don Rufino.
The hosting duties for this culinary reality show will be handled by Mariela Abarca from the Gastronomía Clandestina project, who fulfilled the same role in the first season launched in July 2025.
In one of the episodes, viewers will see Saprissa soccer player and former World Cup player for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, Kendall Waston, surprising the students with a visit, as he is a chef and a gastronomy enthusiast with his own natural products venture.
Filming took place over seven days at the facilities of the Universidad Politécnica Internacional in Heredia.
In phases 1 and 2 of the competition, the working time for each student was one hour, which was increased to two hours for each participant in the finale. To select their recipe, each student chooses a work table where a covered tray awaits them; upon uncovering it, they find a card with the name of the recipe they must prepare.
It is important to note that none of the students were provided with the recipe ahead of time. Evaluation criteria included flavor, cooking point, organization, cleanliness, regional identity, presentation, and efficient time management, with penalties for delays and food waste.
Selection of Participants
To select the students, the ICT contacted the culinary schools Amura, ULatina (Heredia campus), the Universidad Técnica Nacional (UTN), the Universidad Politécnica Internacional, the Culinary Trainer School (CTS), and the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA). Each school suggested the names of two students, who were then interviewed by the ICT and production to choose the following representatives for each educational center:
- Isaac Cruz, UTN.
- Daniela Paniagua, ULatina (Heredia campus).
- Kendall Garita, Universidad Politécnica Internacional.
- Mónica Ramírez, INA.
- Andrés Bermúdez, CTS.
- Yorleny Ávila, Amura.
The six audiovisual episodes can be enjoyed weekly starting October 5 through the following ICT links, with a new episode released every Monday:
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@oficial_ict
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InstitutoCostarricensedeTurismoOficial/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oficial_ict/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@oficial_ict
Press Contact: Luis Enrique Jara Cubillo / [email protected] / 83414521
