Let's talk food!

BORACHO ("drunk") BANANAS 6 bananas 1 TB dark rum 3 TB butter 3 TB brown sugar 1. Peel the bananas, cut in half lengthwise. 2. Melt the butter and brown the bananas on one side in it (in the butter). 3. Turn them over and add the sugar. 4. When brown on the other side, add the rum. 5. Serve immediately on hot plates. (The alcohol does not cook off, so this is NOT a kid-treat!) :D (Also from the 1947 Panama cookbook!)

MMMMMMMMM. Our faves are patacones (fried plantain rounds, not strips) Johnny Mazzetti (a cross between baked spaghetti and lasagna, really a Canal Zone food not Panamanian) arroz con pollo san cocho (MINUS the chicken feet!) empanadas mango salad (mango with salt, pepper, and vinegar) fried yucca civechy (fish appetizer) corvina spaghetti con lomo (spaghetti with roast beef) arroz con juandu flan I don't have actual recipes but I think www czbrats dot com (hahaha spelling out the link) has a recipe section. If you want more detail about anything I mentioned, lemme know. I'm gonna have to google for Panama recipes and cookbooks. Now you got my mouth watering! Robin

:) These sound great! I've gotten pretty good at frying the patacones and baking the empanadas (with pork and beef sausage). I'm wondering, though, do Panamanians have weight issues??? Most of what I'm finding in the cookbook and online are fried foods or very fatty foods (of course, avocado is a "healthy" fat). Are there any healthy choices that DolciLady or anyone else knows of? (That are still palatable, of course!) I'm on a health kick lately, and willing to try out new fruits and veggies. (Trying to up our servings from 0/day to 5/day!) ;) Thanks! Rebecca

Rebecca, Hey, you know, that's an interesting question about Panama having weight problems. I can't recall ever seeing a seriously obese Panamanian. Sure, you have a few fluffy people, mostly the older ones (like a cuddly grandma or a hippy lady). But on the whole, no, I don't think they have a weight problem. Perhaps because Panama is such a heavy-labor and manual labor type society. Plus the general society is pretty poor. I imagine the climate, lack of a/c also contributes, plus many many people don't have cars. I had a hard time finding a lot of chocolate or sweets, except the meringue cookies. I was dying for a candy bar and had very slim pickings when I went shopping. Panama is definitely heavy-carb and a lot of frying. I think they're very big on whole foods or basic ingredients...not a lot of processed stuff like we have here. I think they just don't have the luxury of the combination of chronic overeating-and-being-sedentary the US society is privvy to. Wow, something interesting to mull over. Robin

Well that certainly makes sense! (Just like how French cuisine is very rich, but they don't have the same obesity rates that we do because restaurants serve much smaller portions.) :D Hey, thanks for the chocolate tip. While I can go months without it here at home, if I even THOUGHT it wasn't available at the grocery store down the street, I probaby wouldn't be very pleasant---chocolate can do that to a woman! Seratonin or endorphins or something, right? Tee hee...I'll have to pack some M&Ms or something and hope they don't melt. :)

I thought it was just me!! I LOVE chocolate and sweets. I have a TERRIBLE time in Panama. The chocolate bars, even familiar brands, just do not taste the same. The cookies and pastries that look sweet are not. Honestly, I have a better time with just eating a lot of fruit and juices. They seem so much sweeter there. I have tried taking chocolate but it melts SO QUICKLY! As you feel the heat wave when the door opens at the airport, you will understand! I have been successful with cookies. They do have small swirled sugar cookies the size of a quarter sold in a roll with clear plastic. They sell them by the cash registers. They are good. jane

Hey, if you don't belong to Cosco warehouse store, get a membership. They DO have a huge Cosco in Panama City...so I'm sure they carry "our" chocolate there. We may carry a cooler with us. Our family always does and brings back tons and tons of Fileta and Corvina (steak and fish) and perishable stuff on ice. It's nothing to see folks lugging coolers around the airport. Gotta have a luggage carrier for sure! hehe Not to mention the gallons upon gallons of Panama beer and rum they bring back, too. They honestly carry empty suitcases for the drinks and food and another for souvenirs..and pay extra for the extra weight. If we don't carry a cooler, I will definitely carry an insulated lunch sack with a fake-ice in it. I cannot go a single day without my chocolate. LOL Oh, and when you go to McDonalds in Panama, the beef is from Panama cows (so my husband said)...they have a TOTALLY different taste than ours. I'm a McD fanatic and choked back tears of disappointment when I tried to eat a quarter pounder. It was totally different. It wasn't bad, but it was a shock. Funny how you get used to certain flavors. Robin

Patacones (twice fried Plaintain) 4-5 plaintain (the greenest you can find and NOT bananas or cooking bananas) vegetable oil salt ketchup heavy flat bottom glass Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy duty fry pan. Peel and slice plantain into 1/2 inch rounds. Fry plaintain, a little at a time, until it's slightly golden. Drain on paper towels. Smash plaintain with bottom of glass and return to frying pan. Cook til golden. Remove and drain again. Add salt and ketchup (or your favorite dip). These taste like french fries. You can't eat just one, I swear! Robin