Panama's Food; get away from the canal and find the real stuff

The role Panama and its famous canal has played in the world’s modern history is fascinating and there is no doubt that this has had an impact on the country’s culture and on the kind of food to be found there. You can find every large American chain in Panama city from Macdonald’s to Taco Bell but if do a little digging you can find some real gems of their own food heritage and it’s well worth the effort. We spent a couple of days in Panama City but didn’t really enjoy the atmosphere at all. Then we escaped and headed for Bocas del Toro, a small archipelago on the northern coast, and Boquete in the mountains, surrounded by cloud forest. It was in these places that we found more of the traditional food heritage of the country. As you would expect, bananas and plantains featured strongly, as did eggs. To be honest I’m quite fond of both so I was delighted!

Ropa Vieja

This is Ropa Vieja (old clothes), a dish found commonly in Panama and other parts of the Caribbean. It’s made with flank steak slow cooked, torn and served with a sweet tomato sauce with other vegetables mixed through. Despite its name, it’s delicious. I tried it both by itself and in a sandwich and I would highly recommend it.

Carimañola

Carimañola is a cheesey yuca fritter stuffed with minced beef, bread-crumbed and deep fried. Amazing street food. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re trying to lose wait but it is delicious served hot with the cheese really melty and gooey.

Hojaldras

These beauties are called hojaldras. Made from flour, baking powder and eggs beaten up and deep fried (and very often dusted with sugar). They’re a great way to start the day. They reminded me a lot of the buñuelos we had in Bolivia and they’re not a million miles away from the sort of simple donuts we get in Ireland.

Panamanian Tortilla

Panamanian tortillas are totally different to the kind you get in Mexico and Guatemala and they’re not really like the Colombian arepa either. They have cheese and butter mixed through them and they’re much sweeter. They’re sort of like a cake. I really liked them but they were a little strange served with something savoury like eggs as you see here.

Fried Plantain and Tostones

Banana sandwiches were an extremely handy bus-snack on our limited budget. You find bananas pretty much everywhere, especially in Panama. In the 80’s bananas made up 83% of the overall export value of the country. Having had that many bananas throughout the trip, you would expect me to be sick of them and their cousin, plantain. I may well have been, until I tasted some of the ways they eat them in Panama. Mind-blowing! I’ve been frying bananas at home ever since I tasted these in the hopes of recreating the flavour. They’re usually sliced lengthways or else into 3 or 4 chunks. There’s something about the carmelisation that happens to the sugars when they’re fried that is just amazing. I recommend that everyone try this at home, even with regular bananas.

Tostones are a little different. They’re sliced across the plantain before it’s fully ripe. This means less sugars have developed in the fruit and they’re more suited to savoury dishes. They’re twice fried and sometimes they’re mashed a little before the second frying. Normally fried plantain is still a little soft in the centre but these salty snacks are more like thick crisps and they are delicious.

Yuca Frita

Yuca, cassava, manioc. There are lots of different names for these tubers depending where you are. We had it as a kind of pancake in Brazil, in soup in Colombia and as a sort of rudimentary flat bread in the Amazon in Ecuador but Yuca Frita (fried yuca) is definitely my favourite. Yuca, cut into thick chips and deep-fried.

Overall I really liked Panamanian food, when I found it. Like Colombia, there’s a strong Caribbean influence and a rich food heritage certainly exists but you have to do a lot of digging to get past the effect of globalisation to find it.