When we talk about local, sustainable, delicious and creative gastronomy, Chef Patricia Miranda sounds among the people who move within the Panamanian gastronomic movement.
Chef Patricia knows the culinary needs of our country very well, being in charge of the kitchens of places like Cerro La Vieja at Penonome, Isla Grande in Colon, as well as the restaurant she has owned for years at Tierras Altas Chiricanas (Chiriqui Highlands).
Everything Goes Back to Basics and Truly Important
For Chef Patricia Miranda, today there is much more interest in gastronomy. She thinks that everything is cyclical, that nowadays the new chefs pay more attention to food and the good quality of the products. He comments that the most modern techniques in the kitchen nowadays attract a lot of the attention of the new generations. Technology gives them greater certainty of what is happening in the world and this helps create a need to give importance to what is done in our country and the products related to each region. They have learned to appreciate what agriculture produces, what is produced in the field, because without this raw material, Chefs cannot work.
Products from the Area Help Create High-Quality Meals
Chef Patricia’s school was empirical, as she says: “you learn by cooking”, however, for her the theory is very important, it is to have fresh information in mind. However, she would like to see more practice in culinary schools, for students to go more to the countryside, to witness where the ingredients come from, since most do not know the process, from growing it, taking care of it and picking it up. The Chef thinks that when you are aware of the entire process either agricultural or livestock, you have another vision of what is in hand to make a different and delicious dish. She emphasizes that from elementary school, it does not matter if you live in the city or in the country, if the child knows in depth the whole process from a seed to becoming the final product, his relationship with the environment will be different and thus our relationship with the food will change for the better.
Tourist Connects with Nature
For Chef Patricia, many of those who work in the tourism industry must go out and experience their country, especially the countryside, the beautiful interior, so that they can sell it and surely make each tourist, whether local or foreign, fall in love with certainty.
A good example of what the Chef says is that before the Pandemic, many of the tourists that went to her restaurant in the Chiriqui Highlands were from Canada, the United States, France and other parts of Europe to have that connection with the orchard that she has, to experience a meal cooked with many of their fresh produce from the patio. For the Chef, the best thing was that they loved going out to the garden, walking it and listening to everything about what was grown.
Collaborative Work is the Key
Working to support each other is important to achieve the sustainability of the industry, according to Patricia. She gives an example of the scope of collaboration between all, by telling us that the lamb is bought from her friend Luigi de La Lastra, who has a beautiful farm in the sector, the chickens are from the farm owned by a friend whose name is Juanita, the pig is sold to her by Dalys and her husband Cuco, who raise them at Los Pozos, a place well hidden in the mountains. Likewise, the fresh cow cheese that they serve in the restaurant is homemade, as well as the semi-cured cheeses of both cow and goat, both from farms in the surroundings.
Panama is More than Sancocho, Sao and Arroz con Pollo
Chef Patricia emphasizes that although traditional dishes are delicious, our country has a large number of other delicious foods, with very rich preparations that have been lost over the years and that little by little have been rescued to add to the culinary richness of our country.
The Chef shares with us five dishes that she likes the most in her restaurant and the top five that she enjoys the most from our beautiful Panama:
Cerro Brujo dishes:
▪ Salads
▪ the lamb dipped in this olive
▪ Broad beans dip with cherry tomatoes on top
▪ The fresh pasta that they make by hand in their restaurant
▪ Grilled trout
Panamanian delicacies:
▪ New corn tamale
▪ Heavy nance
▪ Little Egg of Faldiquera
▪ Rib Soup
▪ Sardines Ligo and white rice, adding fresh onion, lemon and salt.
Photos courtesy: Chef Patricia Miranda
