If you are invited to a Panamanian home, many hostesses will make a point to serve traditional dishes so you can appreciate their country's cuisine.  Food is always a good ambassador.  Although Panamanian recipes bear resemblances to those of Central American countries they differ greatly in their preparation and ingredients and have a flavor you will taste nowhere else.

Most local dishes are prepared with corn, manioc, plantains, a number root vegetables such as yam and otoe, often used in soups, green vegetables, beans, fish and sea-food, meats (pork, beef) poultry and a predominance of " culantro ", a locally-grown herb which is a distant cousin of parsley, coriander and celery but with its own strong and individual taste and odor.  Without exaggeration we can say that in Panama, culantro is as basic as ingredients as salt and pepper.

Here is a list of Panamanian specialties.  It is not an exhaustive list.  Most restaurants will put in their menu as entree a typical dish called " sancocho " - chicken soup flavored with culantro- and occasionally several other specialties we detail further on.

PATACONES : green plantain mashed and fried served as appetizers or like french fries to accompany meals.

TAJADAS : ripe plantain sliced lengthwise and fried served as a complement to meals.  It is sweet and often confused with a dessert.

PLATANOS EN TENTACION : can be made with ripe plantains or bananas cut lengthwise and baked or broiled with plenty of butter and brown sugar with a sprinkle of cinnamon, sometimes with nutmeg or cheese.  It has to be eaten hot and served to accompany a main course.

CARIMANOLAS : made of manioc (yuca)-based dough with an oval sausage shape, filled with meat and fried.  It is  eaten hot as a snack or with meals.  Also called "enyucados".

YUCA FRITA : manioc boiled and fried, may replace French fries.

EMPANADAS : corn turnovers filled with ground meat and fried.  It can also be made of flour and baked.  Served as snack or appetizer .

TORTILLAS DE MAIZ : corn tortilla fried and served for breakfast, snacks or with meals.  In the countryside it usually replaces a serving of bread.

TAMAL : cornmeal stuffed with pork or chicken and some vegetables, wrapped in a square shape in banana leaves and broiled.  La Chorrera, a small town 30 kms. from Panama City is famous for its giant-size tamales to which hot sauce and pasas (raisins) are added.

TAMAL DE OLLA : same as a tamal but baked and served as a pie .

BOLLO DE MAIZ NUEVO : young cornmeal dough boiled in its own leaves.

BOLLO DE MAIZ PREÑADO : young cornmeal dough filled with ground meat and boiled in its leaves.  It is also a specialty of La Chorrera.

CHICHEME : beverage made of cornmeal cooked with water, sugar and cinnamon.  "Chicheme Chorrerano" is very popular and well known throughout the country.

CHICHA : cold fruit juices with sugar and water.

TASAJO : sun-dried meat cooked with vegetables.

SANCOCHO : the country's national dish and an entire meal in itself.  Chicken is cooked in pieces and simmered in water, vegetables, plantains, manioc, otoe, corn, yam and flavored with a lot of culantro.  Ingredients may differ slightly according to the region.  Served with white rice and hot sauce .

ARROZ CON POLLO : chicken cooked with vegetables, then boned and mixed with rice.  Practically every Latin American country rates it among the favorite dishes but rice and chicken are about all they have in common.

GALLO PINTO : red pinto beans cooked with pork and then mixed with rice and fried.

GUACHO : heavy soup with rice and beans cooked with pork or seafood.

ARROZ CON GUANDU : rice cooked in coconut milk with pigeon peas.

FUFU : a typical dish from the province of Bocas del Toro and the northern coast.  Fried fish cooked in coconut milk with plantains, manioc, yam.  Served with a lot of hot sauce.

HOJALDRE : fried flour tortilla served for breakfast.

SARIL : beverage made of sorrell.  The bright red crisp "petals"-calyces surrounding the seed- are boiled in water, brown sugar with grated ginger root and strained.  Served very cold with ice.

MONDONGO : tripe prepared with vegetables, peas and tomatoes.  Served with white rice and hot sauce.

CEVICHE : raw fish marinated with lime, onions and hot hili.  Served as appetizer.

SAOS : of Jamaican origin but widely eaten as an appetizer through-out the country.  Pig or cow's feet cooked and marinated in lime, onion with hot chili peppers .