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Panamanian Food


Snapshot of the meal we had for lunch yesterday. It included white rice with grated carrots, lettuce and tomato salad, steamed tilapia fish (pescado sudado), and a slice of ripe plantain (maduro). In the background is a cup of traditional Chinese tea to ease my reflux problems. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

9 thoughts on “Panamanian Food”

    1. Hi Barbara:

      Our food in Panama is rich in carbohydrates. Rice, beans, plantains (green or ripe), lentils, meat and potatoes are basic in our diet. If a family doesn’t have rice in their meals, it’s as if they haven’t eaten. We are great rice consumers.

      Warm Regards,

      Omar.-

      Reply

    2. Hi Barbara:

      Is rice grown in Panama? Yes it is, but the demand is so strong, that some of it is imported from Thailand and Vietnam. We are great rice consumers.

      Bye,

      Omar.-

      Reply

  3. It looks great. The ripe plantain is odd to me. Plantain is a weed in lawns up here and is commonly sprayed to kill it. I had no idea it was something that grew so large that you could eat it.

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    1. Hello Abe:

      A plantain is very similar to a banana, only bigger. The plantain plant and the banana plant are very similar. I would say they are almost indistinguishable. Both are very popular in this part of the world.

      Ripe plantains or “maduros” as we call it, is one of my favorite food. My wife prepares a dish called in Spanish, “Plátanos a la Tentación” which is absolutely delicious. I wish you were here to taste it.

      Regards,

      Omar.-

      Reply

  4. I had the same confusion Abraham Lincoln did when I first met plantain in Liberia. I was used to it being a small lawn weed, too, not something that grew on trees and was bigger than bananas. The scientific name for the lawn plant is plantago, and it’s not at all related to what’s on your plate – although butterflies do eat the lawn plantain!

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