CookingDiva

Panamá se convirtió en el epicentro Gastronómico de América Latina, al celebrarse el Congreso Panamá Gastronómica el pasado 17-20 de Junio del 2010 en el Centro de Convenciones Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. Muy orgullosa me sentí de haber sido parte del comité organizador del evento, junto con la Chef Elena Hernández y el Chef Jorge Jurado.

LA HISTORIA da forma a la cultura gastronómica de un país. Desde los primeros días de la conquista española, Panamá, un istmo de 900 kilómetros de largo que une norte a suramérica, ha sido un lugar de tránsito y punto de intercambio para gentes de todas las razas y culturas.
La construcción del ferrocarril, la unión con Colombia y el inicio de las obras del Canal de Panamá, traen a nuestro suelo a franceses, chinos, antillanos, griegos, italianos y norteamericanos. La Zona Libre de Colón, ha traido a comerciantes caribeños, europeos, del medio oriente y asiáticos.
Los primeros europeos trajeron consigo una enorme alacena de ingredientes. Las fronteras culinarias desaparecieron y una nueva cocina emergió, producto de la fusión de lo foráneo con lo autóctono.
Panamá Gastronómica 2010 - Convergencia de Culturas, convierte durante cuatro días a nuestro país como el epicentro de la gastronomía multicultural - donde se darán cita cocineros, aficionados, productores, artesanos, conferencistas, artistas, estudiantes de gastronomía de la región y público en general, entre otros.

Adicionalmente, tuve la oportunidad de ser una de las Chefs participantes en el congreso, mi ponencia fue “El Chicheme Nuestro de Cada Día: Apelaciones Chorreranas”, resaltando así la tradición culinaria de la región, con sus famosos bollos preñados y de chicharrón, entre otros. A continuación compartimos un videito casero de la preparación de los deliciosos “Bollos de Chicharrón”, de manos de las artesanas Chorreranas Raquel y Adriana Jiménez. Espero que les guste!

Pronto compartiremos más de Panamá Gastronómica 2010…
Un abrazo y bendiciones!

Chef Melissa

Love hurts when you have to leave. It really does, it is more like dreaming about the minutes spent there. The time inhaling the breeze, the breeze inhaling sunset, sometimes sunshine. Sometimes it goes through a sieve and leaves only the poem, the most beautiful thought. The truth.

Then, what? ...Empanadas?... LOL Yes!

I am back home after visiting Aruba. It reminded me of my years spent in Cancún, México, ...you know, island breeze and sunshine. Sometimes mosquitos, BUT, that is another story!

It was great to dress up and re-design the all time favorites of Cuba's Cookin'. It was something between sweet and sour. It was something more than serving meals, more than feeding your hunger. I will tell you more about my time spent at Cuba's Cookin' later. Now let me share one of the tasty loves of Latin American street food.: Empanadas de Maíz con Ropa Vieja!

In a country that had been hit in the recent years by an overwhelming real estate growth and inmigration, in the midst of it all, the melting pot of races feed their souls with a sence of liberty. The silent manifesto of our always-evolving culture, is to create a nation whose people are originally from all over the world, and while preserving our roots, they tremendowsly contribute to the expression of universality.

Today more than ever I treasure the heritage our ancestors planted in the land of long ago, which now we realize is what saved (some of) us of becoming air minded. Love, honestly and respect for others is the secret, without that we would be murdering the essence of life, what our ancestors used to overcome adversity.

Panama: Feliz mes de la Patria!
November 3: Independence of Panama from Colombia
November 4: Day of the Flag
November 28: Independence of Panama from Spain

A big hug!

Melissa

P.S. Never miss an opportunity to share a meal with your loved ones, because it is the best time to tell stories, and to tell you the truth...it is a great way to learn about any culture!

Now, with a bright spirit of celebration, we are sharing this delicious recipe we have created with the colors of the Panamanian flag: RED, BLUE and WHITE! Hope you like it!

Celebration Tri-Color Shortbread

Ingredients:
• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
• 1 cup + 2 TBS butter (I used salted butter) at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
• 5+ drops red food coloring
• 5+ drops blue food coloring
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon anise extract
• 1/4 teaspoon coconut flavouring
• 1 egg white, slighttly beaten

Directions:
1. Sift together flours into medium size bowl.
2. Beat together butter and powdered sugar until creamy. Then, on low speed, gradually mix in the flour mixture until well combined and soft dough forms. Divide the dough in three portions of same size.
3. Knead red food coloring and almond extract into one thrid of the dough. Add more drops of red food coloring if necessary until reach desired shade.
4. Knead blue food coloring and anise essence into one third of the dough. Knead coconut extract into the third half.
5. Flatten doughs into a disk and wrap each separately in plastic wrap, refrigerate until dough is firm.
6. Roll each batch of dough between waxed paper into an even square, 1 inch high. Refriferate on a baking sheet if dough becomes too soft.

7. Remove top piece of waxed paper from one of the doughs, brush with egg white. Remove waxed paper from top of the second dough and invert onto first dough. Remove top piece of waxed paper from the third dough, brush with egg white and invert onto second dough. If the dough is too soft , wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
8. Pre-heat oven to 375 for 10 minutes.
9. Cut dough crosswise into 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick slices. Place slices on ungreased cookie sheets (1 inch apart) and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are light brown.

TIP: if using unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp salt to the dry ingredients and sift together.
TIP for the HOLIDAYS: to bake some of these delicious and easy to prepare cookies for the holidays, just use green food coloring instead of the blue, and follow directions above.