Gastronomy in Panama has been growing with great strength and this is due to young talents who are coming in with new ideas and a deep knowledge of our Panamanian roots. This growth is reflected in our guest, who was born in Panama, but lived her entire life in the Cativa District, Colon Province. A young chef who’s love for cooking began thanks to her mother, aunts and grandmothers who instilled in her that food united people. This inspired her to study a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s in gastronomy. These academic experiences led her to internships in renowned Spanish restaurants in the cities of Girona, as well as in Barcelona, where she was able to learn from Chef Martin Berazategui, the chef with the most Michelin stars in the world. All of this led Chef Gabriela Sarmiento’s talent to recently win in Lima, Peru, the San Pellegrino Young Chef of Latin America award, a competition that finds the talents of the future. Currently, she is in charge of the Canal Bistro restaurant at the Marriott Hotel and shares with The Visitor – El Visitante her vision of Panamanian gastronomy and its importance in tourism.
What does it feel like to represent Panama abroad and how do you feel our gastronomy is perceived abroad?
“I’m honest with you, representing Panama is something great, it is a pride and an honor to really be able to bring a little bit of our culture and make it known even more. So, I think that this San Pellegrino Young Chef platform is really going to position us. However, people abroad perceive our gastronomy as one without identity. And if you ask a foreigner what the typical dish of Panama is, they don’t know what to answer. You ask the Panamanian and he can tell you ten dishes in Panama in less than 30 seconds, but not abroad. 15 years ago, most Chefs opened restaurants with Spanish, Italian, and French influences and you could only eat Panamanian food at home or in “fondas”. With the exception of El Trapiche or Las Tinajas, there were no more places to take a tourist to have this type of food. In the last 10 years, restaurants offering typical dishes with native ingredients have multiplied.I think we should also work not in just showing rice with chicken or tamales, because we know that there are other Latin American countries that have these dishes in a different version. Our mission apart from bringing dishes is implement native ingredients or techniques. An example is the story of my dish in the San Pellegrino Young Chefs contest, where the dish had chicha fuerte made with corn and uses a Guna technique, where unlike the rest of the region, they roast all the corn to the point that it looks like coffee before fermentation, offering notes of caramel or chocolate, which evokes memories on the palate of each diner.We must try to exalt our own dishes as well. Right now, we are doing it with coffee and I think an excellent work is being done on farms in Chiriqui, Colon, which is also a coffee producer. So, today we have changed the chip a little and we are getting into all this, however, we still have a very long way to go”.
Do you see Panamanian gastronomy as a tourism enhancer?
“Gastronomy is one of the things that is most developed, although there is a long way to go. This gastronomy-tourism match is what will also make us export our culture even more in terms of ingredients and typical dishes. So it is that fusion that is the key really.Nowadays, more than tasting and trying, it is the experience that you have at that moment. Panama is generating a revolution by bringing people from outside with the purpose of generating a cultural exchange between knowledge and products. So, at a dinner you will be able to find Panamanian products, native techniques, but also contributions from the other chefs who are guests. So, all those people who come to Panama take a little bit of that with them and thus creating word of mouth. Nowadays, we can say that many of the chefs know a little of Panama’s culture and are interested in being able to do projects here with the high quality products that we have.”
Why do you think the Panamanian Sancocho is the dish that best represents our country and how can it be modified so that the experience can be enhance?
“I believe that Sancocho is like the cure for all ills, that’s how I see it. Maybe not the one that represents us the most. I believe that all dishes represent us almost on the same level, but you eat Sancocho if you have a cold, if your heart was broken, if you have a hungover or your belly hurts and it works, it is already in the chip of every Panamanian. If something happens to us, the first thing that comes to mind is: let’s have a very hot, thick Sancocho with that. Such a peculiar flavor that is incredible and I really emphasize that less is more. Sancocho has only 5 or 6 ingredients: Chicken, cilantro, yam, onion, garlic and corn, which in the end they say this is Panama.I think that the small things are where the beauty really is, that’s why Sancocho talks about Panama. And how can it be modified to expand the experience? I think that it is precisely in dishes like the one I made in the contest, that there was a background story in all of this and at the same time I was responsible with all the ingredients that were used when cooking. This is the way we can expand the experience.”
Photos courtesy: Chef Gabriela Sarmiento.