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{{Short description|Traditional dish from Central America}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Gallo pinto
| image            = Gallo Pinto.jpg
| caption          = Gallo pinto served with cheese
| country          = [[Costa Rica]] and [[Nicaragua]] <!-- Deletion of either country here will be reverted.  Wikipedia doesn't take sides in this dispute, it reflects the dispute as recorded in the sources --> <ref name="nicaraguafood">{{cite web |url=http://www.nicaraguafood.org/gallo-pinto.php |title=Gallo Pinto Recipe |website=www.nicaraguafood.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620182856/http://nicaraguafood.org/gallo-pinto.php |archive-date=2010-06-20}}</ref><ref name="culturetrip">{{Cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/central-america/costa-rica/articles/costa-rica-vs-nicaragua-who-really-invented-gallo-pinto/|title = Costa Rica vs Nicaragua: Who Really Invented Gallo Pinto?| date=7 November 2017 }}</ref><ref name="latinamericatravel">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelatinamericatravelcompany.com/gallo-pinto-costa-ricas-national-dish/|title = Gallo Pinto, Costa Rica's National Dish - Latin America Travel Company|date = 27 April 2017}}</ref>
| region           = [[Central America]]
| course           = [[Breakfast]], [[lunch]], [[dinner]]
| served           = Hot
| main_ingredient  = [[Rice]], [[beans]]
| variations       = Regional variations
| calories = 200
| calories_ref =
| protein = 7
| fat = 0.5
| carbohydrate = 40
| glycemic_index =
| other            =
}}
'''{{lang|es|Gallo pinto}}''' or '''{{lang|es|gallopinto}}'''<ref>[[Royal Spanish Academy]] y [[Association of Academies of the Spanish Language]] (2014). [http://dle.rae.es/Gallo+pinto «gallopinto»]. ''Diccionario de la lengua española'' (23.ª edición). Madrid: Spain. {{ISBN|978-84-670-4189-7}}. Consulted October 19, 2018.</ref> 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 [[Nicaragua]]n and [[Costa Rica]]n identities and cultures, just as rice and beans variations are equally important in many Latin American cultures as well. It has similarities with the Cuban moros y cristianos dish. It is served with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The beans in gallo pinto are cooked with [[garlic]], oregano and [[onion]]. When the bean juice is in equal parts with the beans, they are then combined with leftover or previously prepared rice. The rice is prepared with  [[bell pepper]]s, salt and [[onion]]s.
==Etymology==
Gallo pinto means "spotted rooster" in [[Spanish language|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.
== History ==
It is uncertain and disputed which country is the precise origin of the dish.<ref name="AmericanFolklore">{{Cite journal |last=Preston-Werner |first=Theresa  |date=2020-07-10 |title= Gallo Pinto: Tradition, Memory, and Identity in Costa Rican Foodways  |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/256967 |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume=122}}</ref>  Both [[Nicaragua]] and [[Costa Rica]] claim it as their own, and its origin is a controversial subject between the two countries.<ref name="nicaraguafood" /><ref name="culturetrip">{{Cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/central-america/costa-rica/articles/costa-rica-vs-nicaragua-who-really-invented-gallo-pinto/|title = Costa Rica vs Nicaragua: Who Really Invented Gallo Pinto?| date=7 November 2017 }}</ref><ref name="latinamericatravel">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelatinamericatravelcompany.com/gallo-pinto-costa-ricas-national-dish/|title = Gallo Pinto, Costa Rica's National Dish - Latin America Travel Company|date = 27 April 2017}}</ref>
Gallo pinto is one of many various [[Latin America]]n plates that involve the preparation of the most integral ingredients for many cultures: [[rice and beans]]. Gallo pinto is considered to be a product of [[mestizo]]s; a combination of beans, cultivated by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous people]] of [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] time, and rice, a grain introduced by the [[Spain|Spanish.]]
Rice, originally from Asia, [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|was introduced by Arabs in Spain]] and became a main but versatile ingredient in the 15th and 16th centuries. With the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas]], the Spanish introduced rice quickly to [[Mexico]] and [[South America]]. It is suggested that within the 18th century, the cultivation of rice became relevant to Central America. Asian rice was cultivated by Africans in the [[neolithic period]], and with their [[Atlantic slave trade|arrival to the Americas as slaves by Europeans]], they were already accustomed to eating rice. This occurred as well with beans, which were cultivated centuries prior in Mesoamerica. On their travels to America, slaves were given bowls and a wooden spoon from which they ate twice a day. They ate primarily beans and European or African rice, along with [[maize]], [[yam (vegetable)|yam]]s, [[cassava]], and [[sponge cake]].<ref name="Ross">{{cite book |last1=Marjorie |first1=Ross |title=Entre el comal y la olla: fundamentos de gastronomía costarricense |date=2001 |publisher=Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia |isbn=9968-31-128-6 |pages=62–64 |language=es}}</ref>
==Regional variations==
{{For|similar dishes with rice and beans around the world|Rice and beans#International dishes and variations}}
Gallo pinto is found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and [[Panama]]. In the Caribbean areas of these countries, it is possible to find rice and beans, a similar dish prepared with [[coconut milk]].
=== Costa Rica ===
In Costa Rica they will often eat it with Lizano sauce. There are also two main variations:
* [[Costa Rican Central Valley|Valle Central]]: Gallo pinto is more moist, usually prepared with black beans, less greasy, and is seasoned with chili, cilantro, and onions. One variant includes [[Lizano sauce]].
* [[Guanacaste Province|Guanacaste]]: with a more fatty and roasted gallo pinto; made with red beans.
===Nicaragua===
In Nicaragua, gallo pinto is traditionally prepared with red silk beans and onions, usually cooked in vegetable oil, although animal fats are occasionally used. It serves as a staple in Nicaraguan cuisine and is eaten at any time of the day. It is commonly sold in "[[fritanga|fritangas]]" (food stalls), where it is served as a companion to various dishes.
==See also==
* [[List of legume dishes]]
* [[Rice and beans International dishes and variations]], for a list of similar dishes made with rice and beans.
* {{portal-inline|Food}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Rice dishes}}
{{Legume dishes}}
[[Category:Rice dishes]]
[[Category:Nicaraguan cuisine]]
[[Category:Costa Rican cuisine]]
[[Category:National dishes]]