Wednesday, July 7, 2010

"Grille from Panama" Coming to Downtown Cd'A

I can't recall ever having spent a lot of time at Panamanian restaurants, but the 80's are fuzzy. And no, they aren't fuzzy from all the Panamanian cocaine I did back then. I didn't! Anyway we will all soon have the chance to treat our jaded tastebuds to such possible items as "Carne Entomatada", "Mondongo a la Culona"    and "Arroz con Tities y Coco". That last one was dedicated to the junior high school kid in us all (snicker, snicker).

Wikipedia sums it all up quite nicely: "Panama has its own unique and rich cuisine. As a land bridge between two continents, Panama possesses an unusual variety of tropical fruits, vegetables and herbs that are used in native cooking. Panamanian cuisine is a unique mix of African, Spanish, Native American cooking and dishes, reflecting its diverse population. Typical foods are mildly flavored, without the pungency of some of Panama's Latin American and Caribbean neighbors. Culantro is a common seasoning, used, for example, in sancocho. Common ingredients are maize, rice, wheat flour, plantains, yuca (cassava), beef, chicken, and seafood such as corvina, shrimp, and lobster."

More info about Panamanian cuisine here.

And here are some lurid images to give you a heads up (tummies up?):


Pardon me while I stop typing and get a Bounty towel to clean all the drool off my keyboard. Anyway, all I know so far is that there's a sign that says something to the effect of "Opening Soon: Grille from Panama" hanging on the south side of the Parkside Condos on Front Street, several doors down from Bakery on the Lake. I don't have nitty gritty details such as a backstory or opening date but, as usual, I will certainly try to keep y'all updated.

No comments: