Special rice tamales at El Descanso!

At El Descanso they prepared tamales de arroz, a special form of tamales that are used on special occasions. Doña Eulalia, one of the owners of the lodge, took us to the open air cooking area behind the kitchen and showed us how they put raw, seasoned rice and meat in a leaf of the bijagua or calatea plant.
They wrap it all up in a neat little bundle, then put the tamales to boil over an open fire for several hours.
In the US, and in Costa Rica too, tamales are usually made of corn. It's beautiful how the rice expands inside its leafy package during the boiling process to make a delicious treat that was ready for us to eat when we returned from Boruca.