The Three Sisters Cooking school with Chef Glenn Gamboa
Glenn, a California transplant, and Reinhild, his German-American wife, run the Three Sisters. We went to their house where Glen presented us with a menu that he would teach us to prepare. It was extensive with 10 or so items. Glenn begins by telling us that Panamanian food is terrible but then proceeded to cook delicious Panamanian food! Probably most chefs feel they can do anything better and Glenn is no exception. The class was very well presented and he was prepared and organized. We ate Panamanian tortillas, which to us would be corn cakes or polenta rounds with a beef topping and shredded cheese. Glenn said 'don't go to Quesos Chely' which made us all laugh because we loved our stop there. We also made something with salted cod, empanadas with ropa vieja, a seafood paella and an even tastier dessert paella with rice soaked in coconut milk with dried fruits and apples in it. He topped it with a creme fraiche that is so simple to make.
Oops, forget to say he started the class with chimichurri (his has culantro) and we ate this on everything he served.
Glenn is an opinionated person and gave a lecture or two on various subjects, but overall he gave a great class, enjoyed by everyone. We started cooking around 10 am and finished about 2pm.
Who are the Three Sisters? Pot bellied pigs they have had as pets for years and brought them from CA when they moved to Panama. That is a funny sotry, apparently such had never been seen in the country and they were quarantined for several months, considered to be livestock and not domestic pet. Pig names are BBQ, Sate, and Carnitas. As fat as, well, pigs, they have their own space on the side porch of their house.
