Since Panama is a Central American country, and I typically love the food from there, I was pretty excited for this week. However, Panamanians on Reddit overwhelmingly said that they didn’t have many unique dishes because most were really Mexican, or Peruvian, or from the Caribbean. The one dish that everyone seemed to agree was unique wasn’t feasible since I couldn’t get the main ingredient (at least, not for a price I was willing to pay). Then I had another dish that was a total fail! So ultimately, I didn’t end up making as much as I wanted to this week.
Panama is in the southern part of Central America, bordering South America. It was originally inhabited by various indigenous tribes.
Of course, eventually, during the 16th century, the Spanish came and colonized the region. Panama gained freedom from Spain in 1821 and joined the Republic of Gran Colombia, a union that included a few countries in the region including present-day Colombia and what was known as Nueva Granada.
In 1831, Gran Colombia dissolved and Panama and Nueva Granada formed the Republic of Colombia. During 1903, the Republic of Colombia was split up to become the present-day countries of Panama and Colombia. The United States backed this split, most likely because it allowed them to complete the Panama Canal, a project that was originally begun by the French.
The Panama Canal, a passage that links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was completed in 1914. In 1977, ownership was transferred from the US to Panama. Since then, the canal has served as a significant source of income for the country.
What Do People Eat in Panama?
Panamanian cuisine combines Spanish influences with Indigenous ingredients; some dishes also show similarities to Caribbean food.
One of the most important staple foods is corn or maize, which, like in many countries in the region, may be eaten plain or processed to form various types of corn flour. The flour can be made into corn tortillas and tamales, among other things.
Other popular ingredients include rice, plantains, yuca/cassava, tomatoes, bell peppers, and chilies.
Dishes are commonly based on meat such as chicken, beef, or pork, and seafood is also plentiful, particularly along the coast.
What I Made
- Sancocho de Gallina (Chicken and Vegetable Soup)
- Gallo Pinto (Black Beans and Rice)
- Torrejitas de Maiz (Corn Fritters)
Scroll down to read about other popular Panamanian dishes I didn’t make!
Sancocho de Gallina (Chicken and Vegetable Soup)
Sancocho is a popular soup throughout Central America; I actually made it for Colombia as well. Although the soup has the same name, it’s not necessarily made the same way everywhere. This was a little simpler than the Colombian version, and in fact someone on Reddit said you shouldn’t add too many ingredients to Panamanian sancocho or it becomes something else.
I started by cooking onion in a little oil. The recipe didn’t include this part and it sounded like the onion should just be added raw to the boiling water, but if you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know I’m not a fan of how that tastes. Also, the ingredients list here included oil but the directions never called for it. So this is how I used it!
Once the onion was soft, I added some garlic, followed quickly by water, oregano, salt, pepper, and bone-in chicken thighs. I cooked the chicken until it was nearly done, then added chunks of carrot, sweet potato, and regular white potato. Other common vegetables to use here include squash, yuca, and green plantains. I wanted to use plantains but the ones at the store were not so green anymore.
Once the vegetables were nearly done, I added some fresh cilantro and small corn cobs. Culantro would be the traditional herb to use here, but cilantro is a lot easier to find. After a few more minutes, my sancocho was ready.
This would usually be served with rice, or maybe with patacones (fried plantains). I just had it on its own and I thought it was delicious that way. I was surprised at how much flavor it had since there wasn’t a lot of seasoning.
To make this, I used a recipe from Living in Panama.
Gallo Pinto (Black Beans and Rice)
Gallo pinto is popular in many places in Central America. It consists of beans and rice, but the ingredients differ depending on the country. In Costa Rica, it’s typically made with black beans and flavored with Salsa Lizano, a popular seasoning in the country. In Nicaragua, it’s usually made with red beans and seasoned simply, with onions and bell peppers. The Panamanian version often contains pork; the recipe I chose called for pork tail but I chose to use bacon instead.
I started by cooking some black beans in water seasoned with salt and a bay leaf. Separately, I sautéed some onion and bacon, then added garlic and paprika (I’m not sure about the paprika here; looking back I think it was probably meant to be bell pepper but I didn’t realize that at the time). Once the beans were nearly done, I added the onion and bacon mixture to the pot, along with a little soy sauce (the recipe called for ‘Chinese sauce’), Worcestershire sauce, and chicken Better Than Bouillon. I added rice and let it cook.
Meanwhile, I sautéed some more onion and garlic with chopped tomato, then added tomato sauce and let it simmer until the rice was done.
Once the rice was cooked, I stirred in some chopped cilantro. I served the gallo pinto with the tomato sauce on top, as well as more cilantro.
I thought this was delicious, just like the other versions of gallo pinto I’ve tried. I’m thinking now that the best version would be the Costa Rican one because of the Salsa Lizano, but with bacon added!
The recipe I used was in Spanish, but it comes from Recipes of Panama.
Torrejitas de Maiz (Corn Fritters)
Corn fritters are obviously not unique to Panama, but they are popular there (I’ve noticed a theme of corn-based dishes being common all over that part of the world).
First, I added corn kernels to a food processor and blended them. Then I transferred the puree to a skillet and cooked until it thickened a bit. I transferred it to a bowl, then cooked some whole corn kernels in the skillet with some oil.
Next, I combined the corn puree, corn kernels, flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt, pepper, and an egg. I added dollops to a skillet with some oil and flattened them to form the fritters. I cooked them for a few minutes each side, and then they were ready.
These were pretty good! I’ve made various types of corn fritters before but I’d never pureed some of the corn before. I ate most of these with sour cream; which may or may not be traditional but it was a combination I really liked.
The recipe I used is from The Cook’s Cook.
Other Popular Panamanian Dishes
- Pesada de nance – a pudding made from fruit called ‘nance’ which looks like yellow cherries, though apparently tastes nothing like them. This sounds like the most unique dish to Panama, but I wasn’t willing to pay the price for the nance online. Maybe one day!
- Carminanolas – yuca/cassava made into a dough, stuffed with meat, and fried. I tried making these this week but my yuca wasn’t quite cooked enough and it wouldn’t mash properly. The recipe said it should not be fully cooked and the piece I tested seemed too soft so I panicked and took the whole pot off the stove, but I guess the rest wasn’t quite ready yet.
Final Thoughts
This week was great! I just wish I’d been able to make more dishes. My favorite food from Panama would be the sancocho de gallina.
Next week, I will be cooking food from Papua New Guinea.