I went to Panama a few weeks ago and also noticed how much more expensive cashews are. Not only that, but I’ve been told there is a crisis with their trees. The future of those trees scare me and it breaks my heart. I encourage anyone who has the chance to taste the fruit where the seed grows from, to try it. It has an astringent taste due to its tannins, so yes, it’ll feel weird on your tongue and throat. But you must have it as a chicha and try baking with it! It also makes delicious marmalade.

The US, as far as I know, imports all of its cashews from different countries such as Vietnam, Brazil, and India. So as many things in this country that we are blessed with even though we don’t grow the fruit for commercial production, we still have access to good quality imported goods, like cashews and even cashew fruit (cashew apple).

If you find yourself a good deal price on cashews, splurge and enjoy! While I don’t eat cashews every month, I consume them more frequently than regular nuts, and my husband has joined me in enjoying this delicious treat.

What do you think about cashews? Where you live, can you purchase the fruit fresh or frozen? What’s your favourite way of trying cashews?

Burnt-Toasted Cashews
I grew up getting raw cashews and cashew fruit from my grandparents house in Rio Hato, in the province of Cocle. I remember something we’d gather cashew fruits and then twist the seed out and put them right on the fire. We did this quickly so that we wouldn’t burn with the shell’s acid. We’d set a small fire with wood to burn the cashews and then with a rock break them apart from the burnt skin. I don’t remember ever having more than 5 cashews at a time. They were precious like gold even if we were surrounded by those trees since I had many cousins and uncles and aunts to share with.

I was reading how for highly industrialised companies working with cashews they use strong steam which makes sense if you want to keep the cashew raw. I don’t recall ever using it raw because we always burn it to be able to get it and it ended up roasted.

Now I live in Maryland, I have no cashew trees around me, but I have access to cashews at almost any regular grocery store. They are pricey and that’s ok, as long as it’s because it’s the right thing for the lands who produce it.

I remembered how wonderful the pleasure of eating burnt-toasted cashews when I went to visit my parents in Panama a month ago. I brought a small bag of burnt-toasted cashews I cooked back in Maryland. Though I brought some other goods from the US, nothing brought such joy to my family than going over those cashews I had that were just a leftover snack from our flying trip.

Please do try the on-the-pan burnt-toasted cashew technique, test it with a tiny batch because if you didn’t grow up eating them like the way I mentioned I did during my childhood, I’m not sure you’re going to enjoy it. I’ve offered my cashews to friends and coworkers and they stared at the burnt looking cashews and kindly decline. Let me know what you think if you’ve never had it like this and try it for the first time. Maybe they’re not for you or maybe you unlock a new way to enjoy cashews!

Burnt-Toasted Cashews Recipe

Ingredients:
Raw unsalted cashews, at room temperature (enough to cover the bottom of your pan without crowding)
Timer (helps you stay nearby and prevents burning)
Stainless steel pan or any pan that can take heat without having to add oil to it

Directions:
– Heat a large pan over medium-low heat.
– Once hot, add the cashews. Stir occasionally to prevent pilling. Toast for 3 minutes.
– Reduce heat. Stir the cashews and toast for another 2 minutes. Repeat 2-3 times until they reach a very dark golden brown color. Some will look more burnt than others and that’s ok.
– If you have an electric stove, turn off the burner and leave the cashews in the pan for 2 more minutes. For gas stoves, set the heat to its lowest setting, stir, and leave for 1-2 more minutes.
– Let the cashews cool in the pan, away from heat, for 1-2 hours.
– Once cooled, transfer cashews to a container (jars or resealable bags work well).
– Cashews will stay fresh for several weeks, not in my house since we eat them in two days, but they last week.

NOTE: Start with a small batch if you’re new to toasting cashews. Watch the video for a bit of visual guide. Please let me know if you try this recipe!

I will have a Part 2 and maybe a Part 3 of my Cashew writing series. I’ll keep you posted! Part 2 would include how to use cashews for milk-replacement and Part 3 will be for creams and sauces.

¡a comer!

1 shredded apple with skin, bread flour, water

STARTER RECIPE CLICK HERE

NOTE: This post will be continuously updated because my sourdough starter is on Stage 2 and I’ll bake the bread this weekend. I’m not posting a recipe because I’m sharing the link to the recipes, but I’ll talk about my own experience working with these recipes. Usually when I set on a quest to test a baking recipe I tend to go all in, just as I did with the Ciabatta post.

I read cookbook recipes, blog posts, youtube videos, and then kept doing it back and forth. It always is a fun adventure.I haven’t really lost this ‘baking science research’ interest, but due to current world mood, I didn’t feel like going on such quests.

Instead I’m baking or cooking because, yes I need to eat, but mainly because I wanted to focus on something else besides job hunting, writing, getting my steps for the day, and duolingo. Baking this sourdough bread will be keep me distracted, but not too much since it doesn’t take much effort, but it takes time and patience.

The starter going half way and will continue to update this post as I go, I might fail or I might succeed, either way I shall bake the results and eat them one way or another, because in this house we do not waste food that is edible. Oh yes, I was let go from work so that’s why I’m job hunting, wish me luck.

Photos and description of what I have so far, also links to the recipes I’m using from Paul Hollywood because I love that man on The Great British Bake Show.

Let me be clear, this might really not work, I’m about to publish this post and my second stage starter is looking rather not well. I changed containers, I stirred in some strange liquid last night (today is day number 2 for second stage of the starter) last night I saw bubbles, but some strange liquid and I freaked out and stirred it all and changed to a new container and new plastic wrap. I read on King Arthur’s website that apparently this liquid can be discarded or stirred, so hopefully I haven’t ruined it.

Here are the photos of the steps I’ve taken so far:1 photo (above) is the shredded apple, then water with bread flour.

STAGE 1: ugly mess, mixed with a fork

Covered with plastic wrap, rubber band, and plastic lid – Marked with sharpie to show its growth

STAGE 2: 3 Days Later this is how it looks – I discarded (made pancakes with the waste, and fed it again)

Ready to sleep 2 days more

PHOTO MISSING
I should have taken a photo of how ugly it looked when ready to STAGE 3, there was a weird darker liquid on top, I discarded it, and discarded 1/2 a cup of the starter and fed it 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, I can’t explain why, I figured it will help it smell better when baking it, but I’m not sure if it will work.

It’s supposed to be STAGE 3, but it didn’t look amazing, this is what I did some more feeding to see if I could bring it back to life. At this point I realize if I do this again and it doesn’t work, I’ll just use the starter and sprinkle yeast when baking a sourdough bread, because I am not throwing all this flour to the trash, unless it goes bad of course, I don’t want to die because of saving flour T___T

I saw small bubbles in the starter so decided I’ll bake a sourdough loaf today, not whole wheat, but regular, replacing 1 oz of bread flour with ground flax seed, because my doctor says fiber is what I need. It’s obviously not much, but the next sourdough I’ll test (probably Thursday) I’ll make sure it’s 50/50 whole wheat. Here’s Paul Hollywood’s recipe (click here)

I know this doesn’t count as workout, but gosh. Kneading this for 10 minutes straight got my arms a bit sore. Maybe I should bake sourdough bread every day. I added all the water in the recipe and sprinkled some more because I added 1 tablespoon of chia seeds. Yes, I’m obsessed with fiber and texture. Chia seeds absorb liquid and because of texture was ripping up the dough when I was kneading that’s why I ended up adding around 2 more tablespoons of water to the dough.

I suggest adding the chia seeds along with the ground flaxseed. I had to work more with the kneading because I decided after I started kneading the dough that I wanted to add the chia seeds.

Inside this oiled bowl. We’ll see how much it grows. Recipe says wait 5 hours or until double in size. The house is around 68F so who knows. I set the timer at 4 hours and we shall see.

Wrapping it with plastic and placing the bowl in the warmest room in this house, hopefully it will reach closer to 70F once the sun stops being lazy. I’ll be back in 4-5 hours.

Almost 8 hours and still looks like this. I warmed up the kitchen and still. For now I wrapped it with plastic again and placed in the fridge and we’ll see how it looks tomorrow.My plan is to take it out and let it seat outside 2-4 hours hopefully it’ll grow more and then bake it.

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UPDATE MAY 7TH

I guess being unemployed and dealing with this whole Covid-19 quarantine situation left me a little be uninspired. To the point that I think I ruined my starter. I did bake with it twice, the first time was awful, the second one just a bit cheesy which I read it isn’t good and maybe my starter was possessed.

I didn’t do any of the good things a food blogger is supposed to do during recipe testing, but let’s face it if you’re here reading this post it isn’t because you are planning to make a sourdough bread, but just out of curiosity and see my silly failure, which I’m totally ok with because life is too short so laugh away.

Yes, we ate most of the bread. I did pancakes twice and I won’t be doing sourdough bread nor starters for a long time now.

Now below are photos I’m rescuing from my phone, and then I’ll finish the sourdough starter waste pancake recipe, because two reasons: the recipe works even with my shitty starter annnnnnd I took the photos so I’m posting them.

Have you lost your marbles yet?

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REST OF THE PHOTOS:

It wasn’t rising, so I sprayed some water and yeast, yes I cheated the whole purpose for sourdough starter in the first place, but here we are.

It didn’t get much better, but I was done so I baked this monster.

The most embarrassing bread I’ve ever made, but like I said, here we are.

Just plain awful, but we were hungry so I toasted it with butter and ate most of it.

It was so dense you could use this terrible sourdough bread as a weapon.

This was a different day, same starter, used yeast from the beginning because a girl has no time for this nonsense, I already knew my starter was weirdly cheesy so I needed to kill the rest of it therefore I baked these loaves and made pancakes, again. PS. Life is too short to gain weight with this terrible bread. Don’t follow my steps.

I must admit, they didn’t look terrible.

I don’t even know what to tell you, this is the last of the bread. They look so innocent.

This is the last of my sourdough adventure in 2020. It was like one of those ride at carnivals that you think they might be fun, but then you just get bruises and smelly people sitting next to you, so you scream and scream, but the person next to you ignores you because they don’t know you. You rode the stupid roller-coaster because now you can say, yes, I went to this carnival and tried that ride.

The thing is I’ve baked sourdough before, at a restaurant with actually starters and recipes already tested by actual bakers and not this nonsense I wanted to try from scratch while juggling tons job applications, navigating setting up my unemployment process.

There’s no regrets though, the days I was stressing out with this stupid starter, but this idiotic bread, those days I finally didn’t cry during this pandemic. What are YOU doing to stay sane these days?

¡a comer! Anything, but JC’s sourdough.

I published this podcast episode back at the end of April and I could tell you so many of the excuses I have for not having shared the recipe until now, but instead I’ll just keep it short and sweet and share the recipe.

Seriously, here you go, this is the podcast episode and the recipe below, ¡a comer! (you’re welcome)
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A pesar de que los muffins son uno de los postres más básicos para hornear, tienen un encanto y pienso que toda persona que tenga aunque sea una mínima curiosidad de crear algo delicioso en su cocina, debe probar hornear muffins.

Hace ya casi 10 años compré este libro que me inspiró sobretodo por las ilustraciones, Mad About Muffins  y aunque algunas recetas no me gustaron del todo fue buena motivación para hornear muffins en casa.  Puedo comprender que todo sea un poco abrumador al buscar recetas y no saber por cuál empezar y lo principal que recomiendo es que empiecen probando muffins de panaderías, vean videos de personas haciendo muffins y ya luego cuando sepan algúnn sabor que les fascine de allá­ buscan alguna receta que quieran probar.

Igual en este episodio les digo más de cómo queda haciendo muffins, mucho cuento y una receta que les agrego también agua, y bueno el que no quiere hornear igual acompáñame escuchando el episodio con un café y riéndote de mis locuras.

—

—

Muffins de Fresa y Chispas de Chocolate
Receta de LittleLadyCook:

6 cucharadas de mantequilla
1/4 taza de aceite vegetal
1 1/2 taza de harina de todo propósito
3 1/2 cucharadita de polvo para hornear
1/2 cucharadita de sal
4 huevos a temperatura ambiente
1/3 taza de azúcar
1 taza de fresas picadas
1/2 taza de chispas de chocolate
cáscara de limón rallado 1 cucharada
1 cucharadita de extracto de limón
1 cucharadita de extracto de fresas (o de algún licor que vaya rico como Grand Marnier, o más extracto de limón)

INSTRUCCIONES

1. 350F grados precalentar el horno
2. Molde de Muffins para 12, liners para que no se peguen los muffins al molde y nonstick spray.
3. Cernir los ingredientes secos (harina, sal, polvo para hornear en un bol y tener listo)
4. En un bol separado batir mantequilla, cáscara de limón o de naranja y azúcar hasta que queden bien mezclado, ya sea con una batidora de mano o una manual o con el Kitchenaid si tienen uno.
5. Batir los huevos uno a uno hasta que queden mezclados y el aceite.
6. Una vez mezclado todo agregar los extractos y las fresas picaditas.
7. Agregar en 3 vueltas los ingredientes secos mezclados al bol con una cuchara o espátula agregar las chispas de chocolate (o nueces si prefieres) y mezclar hasta que todo quede mezclado.
8. Porcionar la masa en el molde, asegurarte que sea lo más balanceado posible.
9. Hornear 15-18 minutos y luego voltear.
10. Hornear 8-12 minutos, después de los 8 minutos revisar cada 2 minutos para asegurarse no sobre-cocinar los muffins, pero que te queden bien horneaditos.

NOTAS:

1. Mi extracto de fresa es este y me gusta, el de chocolate no lo he probado pero huele delicioso, este es el enlace en donde compré en Amazon:  OliveNation
2. Usé chispas de chocolate semidulces así­ que no olviden mi receta es super baja en azúcar así­ que si desean pueden ajustar el dulce de la receta ya sea con el chocolate o la azúcar.

Espero que puedan probar esta receta y me cuentan qué tal les va, coman mucho por mí­!

¡a comer!

I’ll keep this post short since I already shared some of my bread stories on my latest Podcast “How A Panamanian Fell In Love With Bread – LittleLadyCook – S2 | Ep7”

If you already listened to the podcast and how I fell in love with baking bread, awesome, if you don’t care and all you want is a recipe and some photos as a guideline, no judgement: I gotchu, but, there is probably better material all over YouTube.

As I mentioned on the podcast the reason I first got excited with making ciabatta was when I started learning how to properly bake bread at a restaurant and became a bread baking apprentice for a few months.

The feeling returned after watching Paul Hollywood go on about bread at the Great British Baking Show. I saw how practical and easy making ciabatta looked like, or so I thought before I figured about the timing with folding.

Also you can’t even play much this dough, which is such a drastic contrast from enjoying baking challah. The challah dough is so yummy to touch and shape, but the ciabatta only likes rough touching or none, oh all the terrible puns and jokes I’m thinking, I can’t even lol.

I have baked this bread now 13 times at least, you can see some photos on my Instagram story highlight and some of my struggles during winter (it takes longer to raise unless you have a neutral temperature in the house). Now that it is warmer, I’m having a blast baking it.

(video clips I put together of several of my ciabatta baking days)

Ciabatta might just be my favourite bread, when it gets proper raising and folds creating beautiful pockets of air and I now I finally get to do a lovely baking getting the prize of a crispy crust and a perfect touch of chewy dough.

Paul Hollywood’s recipe works just fine if you find yourself craving ciabatta bread and not wanting to wait until the next day to create a starter (Poolish), but I highly prefer a Ciabatta with Poolish and so this is the recipe I recommend if you want to bake a delicious ciabatta at home.

This is the basic recipe that I’ve tested from the ‘Advanced Bread and Pastry” cookbook by Michel Suas.

You can use a google calculator to change from weight measures to cup measures, but if you’re planning on continue to bake breads I suggest investing in a scale at least, not because of “perfection”, but because you will regret the day you finally make the bread of your dreams and you can’t repeat the recipe.

On the book there is a lot of explanations from Poolish, percentages of fermentation, temperature, etc. But if you’re in my blog you are most likely just like me an enthusiast and a beginner, so don’t let that overwhelm you, I baked before even learning what ‘folding’ meant, sometimes making mistakes that take you through a different path, just enjoy the process and worst case scenario if you screw up the bread, as long as it is not raw, use it for bread pudding and try again another day.

CIABATTA WITH POOLISH (notes from Michel Suas Cookbook)
Makes 2 Ciabattas 1lb each, or 6 rolls.

Poolish Recipe
6.75 oz  Bread Flour
6.75 oz  Water (room temp)
1/8 tsp Instant Yeast

Mix in a bowl with a fork for a minute, cover with plastic wrap, set timer 12 hours don’t wait more than 16 hrs, your Poolish might die. Keep in place that’s not colder than 65F nor hotter than 71/72F.

12-16 HOURS

Ciabatta Recipe
10.9 oz Bread Flour
6.8 oz Water
1/8 tsp Instant Yeast
0.2 oz Salt
0.5 oz Oil
Poolish

Put flour + salt in the stand mixer (hook attachment)
Add water to your poolish bowl and softly mix/folding with silicone spatula
Add poolish + water combo to the flour bowl, add oil and yeast
Mix in med-low speed until combined, stop at times and use your spatula to make sure all the flour is mixed in.
Mix another 2 more minute in medium speed
Placed in a greased bowl (I use a square one to maintain ciabatta square shape, but use whatever you have)
Cover with clean kitchen towel and let it rest 3 hours
DURING THESE 3 HOURS 2-3 folds (this video shows well, I do my folds every 35/45 minutes and let the longer rest for the end).

NOTE: if you don’t have a stand mixer, this guy’s method looks pretty legit (click for video).

UPDATE WHOLE WHEAT CIABATTA: I’m still testing whole wheat ciabatta. I’m doing the Poolish with whole wheat flour (same amount) increased water so using 7oz of water for the Poolish. So far I’ve only tested at 12 hours and there’s not a lot of bubbles on top, but yes at the bottom of the poolish, plus it is growing just the same.

The regular recipe I testing first 75% whole wheat and 25% bread flour. The second test is happening as I’m typing this which is only 2 oz of Bread Flour in the recipe. I’ll come and update and hope to continue testing. I’ll share photos too.

3 HOURS

Add generous Flour surface
Add generous Flour long Kitchen Towel or bread cloth if you have
Invert your ciabatta container on top of the floured surface and let it slide softly, tap on top a little if needed, but it should be pretty smooth at this point.
Pastry cutter or a sharp knife cut as you prefer, two loaves or 4 or 6 rolls and place each on floured cloth, move as little as necessary your dough, if it’s your first time you might be clumsy and that’s fine, just make sure you get it all separated on the towel and cover with another towel. (see pics).
Preheat Oven at 450F with large cast iron or baking sheet inverted inside so it gets pretty hot, it helps for bottom crust, etc.
Let it rise again 30-45 minutes
Get water boiling a few minutes before you plan to bake your bread. and place in a small baking pan inside of the oven (unless you have a fancy steamer oven). Also save a few ice cubes and if you have a mist spray bottle, fill it up with warm water before baking the ciabatta.

30-40 MINUTES

This part is tricky, I use a pizza peel with parchment paper on top and place the bread in there and just slide in oven.
If you don’t have that, don’t be afraid, it’s going to get hot, but you are going to have to work quickly: use your oven mitts/towel and place the EXTREMELY HOT inverted baking sheet on top of your stove, place parchment paper on top and quickly place the bread on top of parchment paper (carefully so you don’t lose any air in that dough).
Spray once or twice the warm water on top of the dough and quickly place inside of the oven that already has boiling water inside of a pan on the rack below. Throw in one or two ice cubes and spray a few times, and close the oven door carefully.
Bake 30-35 minutes depending on how you cut your dough and on how baked you like your bread, try different times every time and take notes.

30-35 MINUTES

After the bread is baked, let it rest, some people wait hours or the next day, I wait until it is just a touch warm because I like warm bread with butter, but once it was cooled off completely you can wrap in plastic and place in freezer if you have to much bread, you can thaw overnight inside of the fridge another day and toast in oven at 375F for 2-3 minutes before serving it.

This post is going to be super short because I have already written about Patacones in the past, I’ll make sure to film the process the next time! I know you can find it on YouTube, but I think my terrible joking and awkward comments will make your frying plantains experience much more interesting… I think =)

I will also share my experience of doing this whole season, 6 episodes of my Food Podcast, crazy amount of hours and so much learning.  I’m happy and proud because if technology has given us something, it has been the resources to share our voices and at least archive it. A non-scholar latina, panameñita Podcast lady, ha!

And though for now I haven’t been invited to any podcasts, nor have my ideas been accepted for me to be a guest, I will continue to study, learn, and share everything I can on this journey. Hopefully a lot of Patacones will be part of the adventure.

—– listen to podcast here —–

—– end of podcast —–

These are other photos of patacones as I mentioned how we eat it with fried fish, ropa vieja, but I don’t have the most common one you can find at any fonda probably: patacones with salchichitas, maybe I should make this for brunch this weekend!

RECIPE on this older blog post (click here)

I’m not recording a new podcast episode for this week, I’m taking a break and it was good timing: I really needed it this pause.

In regards to Patacones, I shall have a whole episode only on my research of plantains in general, but my main wish is for you to plan to give them a try soon and let me know when you do, they’re incredible delicious and I hope we can enjoy a lot of them in 2019.

¡a comer! ahem… ¡a comer PATACONES!

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1. Tener todos los ingredientes medidos o pesado (si no usan pesa en google solo asegúrense de convertir correctamente, no pesa lo mismo una taza de agua que de harina por ejemplo).

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2. Mezclar los ingredientes secos.

°

3. Agregar el agua, si quieren hagan la mitad y luego poco a poco hasta que sientan la masa y el gluten desarrollándose.

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4. Mi masa se sentía un poco seca puede ser por el clima así­ que agregué 2 cucharadas más de agua al final, es bueno sentir la masa y entre más hagan hojaldres más desarrollarán su receta en base a su preferencia.

°

5. Antes de agregar más agua, agregue la mantequilla a temperatura ambiente en pedacitos y ya sea incorporar con la batidora de pie o con mano (también he hecho esta receta a mano y funciona igual solo que me toca amasarla más tiempo). Batir a velocidad media hasta que la mantequilla se incorpore por completo.

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6. Te darás de cuenta qué tanto gluten la masa ha desarrollado y si está lista si pasa el windowpane test que es la prueba que te muestra si la masa está lista, la mía estaba casi lista en esta foto, para mi masa de hojaldre así­ está bien, fueron casi 5-7 minutos en la batidora, así­ que luego de batir 3-5 minutos prueben la masa cada 2 minutos extras hasta que se sienta un poco elástica y se pueda estirar sin reventarse.

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7. Si tienes un envase grande guárdalo allá­ tapadito a temperatura ambiente por lo menos 2-3 horas. Prueba si es tu primera vez y tu casa es muy caliente capaz en 30 minutos está listo así­ que sin temor calienta tu aceite y prueba friendo pedacitos del mismo grueso que estirarás tu hojaldre para medir bien la temperatura del aceite.

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8. A medida que los frían colocar en papel toalla para que se drene el aceite de las hojaldres y lo ideal es ir pasando las hojaldres de una vez para que no se enfríen jaja!

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La masa que te sobre al día siguiente se puede frei­r y a mí­ me encantan con huevo fritos y queso, o si preferís postre agregarle azúcar pulverizada, chocolate y canela. Con miel también queda muy deli la verdad.

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Espero pronto ya hagan su Hojaldre y a comer al estilo panameño y cómo es eso? Vas a tener que escuchar el Podcast para saber el cuento, suscríbete en YouTube, solo busca LITTLELADYCOOK y me cuentas qué tal te parece.

°¡a comer!

I grew up eating a lot of offal, animal organ meats and their non-popular parts. I never thought much about which part of an animal I was eating until someone pointed it out: “How can you eat that?” Ew. I have encountered this reaction many times in my life: back in Panama when I first joined a private school, some cousins who consider themselves “picky eaters”, and then when I first moved in to the US, almost 11 years ago.

I mentioned on the podcast I don’t judge people who react negatively to something I’m eating because I myself don’t love eating just anything and everything. If you listened to my first podcast on food trends, you’ll hear me talking about not being very interested in eating bugs and/or dishes made out of waste and by waste I don’t mean eating from nose to tail because THAT I have been already doing it all my life.

Listen to the podcast here:

I’m almost finished with a book called ‘The Power Of Habit’ and on one chapter Charles Duhigg mentions how in order for housewives to cook some offal (chicken livers, etc) during the war (I or II can’t remember), they released some recipes for them to try at home, adding it to meatloaf and whatnot since their husbands already had the habit for their to eat such dishes.

It makes you realize and accept that most things we eat have to do with familiarity, yes, I’m sure there are tons of exceptions and I’d love to do more research on the palate and its development, but this is more of a psychological and scientific approach and I think it’s going to take me longer before I can make a full episode on this subject.

There are tons of articles online that talk about offal and recipes in general, this is why on this episode I focused on Panamanian food, and of course other Panamanians would have chosen other dishes that would be instead of my top 10, but for now I can only write about what I have learned and experienced so here you go:

10 Panamanian Dishes With Offal

These are my favourite offal Panamanian dishes, and not so favourites, but that I grew up eating and would probably eat mostly when cooked by mum!

1. RABITO DE PUERCO CON POROTOS: pigtail bean stew

Recipe (click here)

2. SAO – SAUS: pickled pig’s trotters

Recipe (click here)

3. CORAZON DE RES FRITO: fried beef heart
I’m planning to work on this recipe and will update this list :)

4. PICADILLO DE BOFE: cow lung semi-stew

This recipe isn’t as traditional for what I grew up eating, but until I write one myself, here you go (click here).

5. DOMPLIN DE BOFE: cow lung fritter
My sister says she will make it, share photos, and perhaps a recipe, coming soon!

6. GUACHO DE RABITO: pigtail rice stew 

Recipe (click here)

7. SOPA DE PATA DE RES (cow’s feet soup)
My mum says she will make it, share photos, and perhaps a recipe, coming soon!

8. BISTEC DE HIGADO ENCEBOLLADO (beef liver & onions)
My mum says she will make it, share photos, and perhaps a recipe, coming soon!

9. MONDONGO: beef tripe stew

Recipe (click here)

10. HUEVOS DE PESCADO FRITO: fried fish eggs
My sister promised to rescue me with this dish by finding a recipe to share on the blog, or at least taking a photo and sharing the name of a spot in Panama where you can find this non-popular dish.

OTHER DISHES WORTH MENTIONING:

Pajarilla (fried spleen), Testículos de Toro (bulls balls), Mollejas Fritas (sweetbreads), Buche (tendon, cartilage, pig ears), intestines (we mostly use it ot stuff chorizo, but I love the yakitori (japanese grilled style), but the last time I had it I almost died with an allergy and no tasty food is worth the suffering I went through that night so I either better get a shit ton of limes the next time I eat that, or I’ll refuse to eat it unless I’m next to a hospital and the restaurant is paying my medical bills, thank you!

Don’t make that face, you can get sick even eating lettuce, ahem, so just make sure if you’re cooking animal parts, meats, vegetables, anything you’re going to eat, make sure it’s properly clean, unless of course your stomach is stronger than mine.

Will you be eating offal anytime soon? Let me know in the comments! Also let me know how you liked this episode!

¡a comer!

He also mentioned how for him it doesn’t matter if you pass the sugarcane through the Trapiche on the same day, in his experience the sweetness remains the same even if you process the caña the next day to make raspadura.

La Raspadura, our Panamanian Gold: hopefully you will fall in love with it as much as some of us have.

Just a week ago I had one the best nights ever around New York! It was my 3rd time in Brooklyn and I had the honour of being invited to participate in the Chow x Mundo Event organized by MOFAD (Museum Of Food And Drink).

A few months ago the amazing human being, Simone Jacobson, asked me if I would be interested in participating in a panel to talk about Food History in Barrio Chinos (Chinatown in Panama). I was extremely flattered and said that of course I would!

The day arrived, and I took the train all the way to Brooklyn to participate in this event. Knowing ahead of time that everyone in the panel were experts (professors/chef), I was very nervous. I’m used to supporting my boss and/or my friends at events when THEY participate.

For the past 5 years I have rarely said anything in front of an audience or in front of a camera, but in 2019 this is going to change. Since I do have a lot to say when it comes food, I’m so glad I went to Brooklyn.

It started with a warm welcome, where we were all introduced as if we were old friends. It really felt that way and that feeling stayed throughout the evening.

The team at MOFAD did a great job setting the mood and the kitchen staff did a fantastic job cooking and plating the dishes for the evening. For a moment it felt as if I was back in Panama because of the environment: a happy and tight melting pot of good people collaborating on a project we all feel very passionate about. I used to organize and participate in a lot of such cultural & gastronomic events back in Panama. I’ve missed this so much!

Meeting Professor Lok Siu was incredible and I can’t wait to read her book Memories of a Future Home: Diasporic Citizenship of Chinese in Panama. I have so much to learn about the Chinese community in Panama and thanks to Professor Siu and through a few contacts my sister has shared with me, it’s going to be a fascinating adventure to learn all I can about this subject.

Professor Siu gave a short, but deep talk about Chinese Migrants in the US that came from Latin American countries. Now I am very curious to try restaurants with Peruvian & Chifa foods, also restaurants that offer different menus eg. Caribbean with Chinese. I know in my over 10 years of living in this country I have seen such options, it just never dawned on me that this was probably a result of a Chinese family who migrated from a Latino country.

Then was Carlos Olaechea, who did a Lomo Saltado cooking demo, but with Tofu and it was delicious! Carlos talked about Chifa Cuisine which he mentioned Peruvians consider just as Peruvian Cuisine, not Chinese-Peruvian, but Chifa! If I wanted to travel to Peru before, he certainly made me crave this trip even more!

Lastly we had our panel on ‘The Socio-Cultural Importance of Chino-Latino Restaurants’; we got to hear from Chef Guillermo Hung and his restaurant Pao Cha Cha in Astoria, Queens. You should check out his video on being a Chino Latino, what a personality he is!

On the panel was also professor Jason Oliver Chang talking on the delicate history of Mexicans and Chinese back in 1880-1940, I myself have bookmarked his book for future reading: Chino: Anti-Chinese Racism in Mexico, 1880-1940.

The last one to participate on the panel was professor Kathleen Lopez, who brought a light into the conversation in regards to the difficult past among Chinese and Latinos by painting a picture of the lovely experience in el Barrio Chino in Cuba and so many anecdotes, this is the last book from I’ve added to my list: Chinese Cubans: A Transnational History (North Carolina 2013).

The event also included salsa dancing, delicious food, tons of smiles, exchanges of knowledge, and anecdotes. I finally had to leave before it ended since I had to run to Manhattan and catch my Amtrak back home.

I thank the folks at MOFAD, specially Simon Jacobson, for making me feel so welcomed to their museum family and for sharing this space with me to voice my thoughts and experiences. I will forever treasure that evening.