Just for fun: Food culture in Panama

Just moving to Boquete and I don't know the answers to any of these questions.  But I cannot wait to see what others have to say, then I'll make a list!

Rice.... rice takes a whole aisle in the supermarket! Beans, chicken, plantains. Typical lunch, rice, beans (maybe lentils), piece of meat, tiny salad, piece of cooked, ripe plantain in top (sweet like banana). Food is not considered a big attraction here. They fry a lot and don’t use a lot of spices,  but it’s good. The produce is grown here in the Chiriqui highlands so we are lucky to have tons of fruits and vegetables available every day, inexpensive and very yummy.

Street food, my favorite is pipa, green coconut with the top cut off and a straw stuck in so you can drink the milk. Then you can ask them to open the coconut so you can use what was the top to scoop out the meat. You’ll be impressed by what they can do with a machete.

Arroz con guandu (rice and pigeon peas) is required for holidays! And tamales, love tamales, oh yes. Every country and even every family seems to have their own recipe. They put beets in the potato salad so it’s pink, and sometimes carrots for holidays.

Boquete, however, has many many restaurants so you won’t be limited to típico (traditional Panamanian) food. But learning about local food and getting someone to teach you to make it is always very fun.

Panama is not famous for its cuisine :-) Rice, beans and a piece of meat, fish or chicken. And pasta is considered a salad. The fondas cook a fresh, good and cheap meal  but always the same recipe as mentioned above. And then you have the restaurants of course. A little more sophisticated but it always gets down to the basic Panamanian recipe. With this I mean of course the restaurants that only serve typical Panamanian food. What I like best here in Panama is the fish. Meat is always terribly tough, chicken is okay. The typical Panamanian chicken soup (sancocho) is delicious.

In moving to Boquete, I'm already missing my salad bars -- do any restaurants in the Boquete area serve a good old fashion garden salad?  You would think with all the fresh fruits and veggies, there would be salads served on every corner!