Panamanian Cuisine Culinary Day Tour
HIGHLIGHTS
The Three Sisters Global Gourmet Cooking School, located in the charming village of El Valle de Anton, is offering half day culinary classes in Panamanian Cuisine. Chef Glenn Gamboa’s classes are unlike any other offered in Panama; the course core focuses on the anthropological, cultural and historical components of the local foodways in addition to the actual construction. Choose between Typico and Vegetarian Cuisines.
In the Typico class you’ll prepare and discuss Panamanian culinary archetypes using Yucca, Name, Otoe, Corn, Banana, Flour and Sweet Potato, several Plantains guises like Tostones, Patacones, Tachinos and Tentacion, numerous Arroz presentations including Paellas, Casseroles, Fried Rice’s and Desserts. A selection of Caribbean dishes embracing Chicken Curry Roti, Patty’s and Corned Beef variations, Mondangos, Sancochos, Chow Miens, Gandules, Lentil and Bean constructs will also be formulated.
Then finally you’ll set the table with a sampling of flavorings, condiments and sauces including Recaito, Alcaparrado, Chimichurri and Aji Chombo along with Sofrito and Encurtido. You’ll take home memories of a fun-packed day, as well as your class recipes – a Tasteful Souvenir!
Salivating yet?
TYPICO TOUR DETAILS
An Anglo Overview of Panamian Cuisine
A historic small city masquerading as a smaller developing nation aptly describes modern Panama. Separating two major oceans, each with its own distinctly different aquatic pantry, this narrow tectonic land bridge contains 5% of the world’s rain forests inhabited by 50% of the globes existing animal and plant species.
This plethora of bicoastal and interior biodiversity, evidenced by the countries cultural, ethnic and culinary 
differences, makes codifying traditional foodways or clarifying the colloquialisms for indigenous cultivars extremely difficult. The manumission of the Caribbean Africans, brought peoples who spoke English, albeit with over fifty different dialects, to the Atlantic side to settle subsistence farmlands. The Pacific side in turn had long been influenced by the Spanish as they transported sliver from the mines of Potosi, Peru to their Atlantic treasure fleet via Panama City and then home to Spain. These two culinary entourages when fused with the indigenous crops of the interior and tweaked by a well dispersed Pre-Columbian influence created the interesting, if not haute, cuisine of today’s Panama. The dietary transition from homemade/unrefined to convenience/refined foods is just beginning in Panama. Starch like tubers, vegetables and fruits are still culinary benchmarks yet to be supplanted by the darlings of global agribusiness, GM corn and soy, and their minions of feedlot dependant livestock.
This may be one of the few opportunities you’ll ever have to experience a cultures diet before its iconic dishes pataconesbecome ossified vestigial tokens only served at holiday rituals and celebrations. Our class will discuss the major and minor starches used to make the fritter-turnover matrix for many enduring Panamian constructs like carimanolas, alcapurrias, tamals, tamales, empanadas and aranitas. In class we’ll prepare and discuss culinary archetypes using Yucca, Name, Otoe, Corn, Banana, Flour and Sweet Potato, several Plantains guises like Tostones, Patacones, Tachinos and Tentacion, numerous Arroz presentations including Paellas, Casseroles, Fried Rice’s and Desserts. A selection of Caribbean dishes embracing Chicken Curry Roti, Patty’s and Corned Beef variations, Mondangos, Sancochos, Chow Miens, Gandules, Lentil and Bean constructs will also be formulated. Then finally we’ll set the table with a sampling of flavorings, condiments and sauces including Recaito, Alcaparrado, Chimichurri and Aji Chombo along with Sofrito and Encurtido.
VEGETARIAN TOUR DETAILS
Half a day of history,instruction, conversation and grazing. A must do for learning how to use those exotic-strange empanadalooking vegetables in the market!
It has been stated that most Panamians consume less meat protein daily then the average American housecat. They, like most of the peoples of lower America, have existed on a primarily vegetarian diet for millennia. So this fact makes it easy to present a class oriented towards lacto ovo gourmets even though we added a little fish to some constructs you don’t need to use any animal protein at all.
The dietary transition from homemade/unrefined to convenience/refined foods is just beginning to evolve in Panama. Starch like tubers, vegetables and fruits are still culinary benchmarks yet to be supplanted by the darlings of global agribusiness, GM corn and soy, and their minions of feedlot dependant livestock. This may be one of the few opportunities you’ll ever have to experience a culture’s diet before its iconic dishes become ossified vestigial tokens only served at holiday rituals and celebrations. Our class will discuss the major and minor starches used to make the fritter-turnover matrix for many enduring Panamanian constructs like Carimanolas, Alcapurrias, Tamals, Tamales, Empanadas and Aranitas.
In class we’ll actually harvest and prepare Yucca, Otoe and Chayote from the Three Sisters garden. We’ll then ctamaleonstruct various culinary archetypes using Name, Corn, Banana, Flour and Sweet Potato, several Plantains guises like Tostones, Patacones, Tachinos and Tentacion, numerous Arroz presentations including Paellas, Casseroles, Fried Rice’s and Desserts. A selection of Caribbean dishes embracing Curry Roti, Pattys, Sancochos, Chow Miens, Gandules, Lentil and Bean constructs will also be formulated. Then finally we’ll set the table with a sampling of flavorings, condiments and sauces including Recaito, Alcaparrado, Chimichurri and Aji Chombo along with Sofrito and Encurtido.
RATES & DATES
The 4 hour Culinary Class operates upon request. Contact JB Journeys for reservations. Individual classes for 1 to 3 students, $100 per person
Groups of 4 to 12, $50 per person
Extend your stay in El Valle and Expand your horizons! The Three Sisters proprietors, Glenn and Reinhild Gamboa, have connections with the local organic farm, coffee roasters and an in town baker who uses a traditional wood fired clay horno for the daily bread she sells in the village. And there’s always the farmers market, square trees, hot springs or petrographs to see during your stay in the oldest continuously human occupied volcanic crater in the world; El Valle de Anton. JB Journeys will gladly organize all your transportation, accommodation and activities while in El Valle, and throughout Panama.
Chef Glenn Gamboa of Three Sisters Cooking School, writes fascinating, in depth articles on a range of food topics. Enjoy these reads: Italian Food History, El Valle Eco Tours, Panamanian Recipes, Panamanian Cooking Terms, Mexican Food and French Food.
http://italianfoodhistory.wordpress.com
http://elvalleecotours.wordpress.com
http://panamanianrecipes.wordpress.com
http://panamaniancookingterms.wordpress.com
