Sancocho, Patacones and Raspao: Panamanian Food for Families

Panamanian food is Caribbean and Spanish with a lot of rice and plantain, and it is straightforward for children, which after a canal day and a boat day is what everyone needs.

Sancocho is the national dish, a chicken soup with yuca, corn and culantro, the wide leaf herb, served with rice on the side. It is what Panamanians eat when they are tired, hungover or homesick, and it is the bowl to order for a child on the first night. Every fonda, the small local restaurants, has it.

Patacones are green plantains, sliced, fried, smashed flat and fried again, salted, and served with everything. They are the fries of Panama and the kids will eat them by the basket. Maduros are the sweet ripe version, and the ones the little ones prefer.

Rice, fish and the street

Arroz con pollo, rice with chicken and vegetables, is the party dish and the lunch special. Ropa vieja, shredded beef in tomato sauce, with rice and beans. Corvina, the sea bass, grilled or as ceviche, at the fish market in the city where the stalls sell ceviche in cups for a dollar.

On the islands it is fish, lobster in season, rice cooked in coconut milk, and the Caribbean dishes of the Afro Antillean coast. Hojaldras are the fried dough for breakfast, like a beignet without the sugar, with eggs.

Raspao is the shaved ice from a cart, syrup and condensed milk, in the park at Casco Viejo in the afternoon. Chicheme is the sweet corn drink. Fresh fruit juices, chicha, at every fonda. Panama’s coffee from Boquete, the geisha variety that sells for a fortune, for the adults. And the water from the tap in the city is safe, which is rare in the region.

Planning Panama with kids? Start with the full Panama family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.