From the moment I encountered the TSA full body scanner in Houston on my flight to Tucson I realized I was not in a place I wanted to be. Everyone was courteous, polite and business like, as I had to empty my pockets and remove my shoes..  All things on the rest of the trip were efficient and almost antiseptically clean, compared to my life in Panama.

My  friends were cordial and fascinated with my seven year adventure in Panama. Many of my friends are caught in the work to survive mode, some could retire, if they could afford to retire. Others can afford to retire but have not found the switch on the treadmill; it does have an off switch. I fear many will keep walking or running until they fall and inertia tosses them into their grave. I chose a different end, an adventure, not a contest of earning and spending until death do us part.

While I was gone someone posted this comment to something I wrote and re-write annually, it is called, Don’t move to Panama, certainly not Boquete..

My son Sebastian and his sanity, wife, Carol.

I was in Tucson in Jan 2010 and witnessed what appeared to be a dying city. Credit what ever you wish, government or sun spots, the city is recovering. There is a lot of new infrastructure built with Federal pump the economy funding, a turn around in the housing market and apparently fewer empty commercial properties. It seems that Tucson is bouncing back.

I have had one day with boots on the ground, or I should say a with a 2013 Mustang on the ground. I rented a Ford Focus, AVIS gave me a Bright Blue Mustang, something so totally out of character for me that I am enjoying the surprised faces of friends an family when I arrive.

The trip was uneventful except for one question at immigration in Houston. The immigration officer started with welcome home, then looked at my form which said I was a resident of Panama. After asking the apparently obligatory, why are you here, he asked about the cost of living in Panama. It was fast and I answered that it was lower than in Houston unless you picked Panama City.

I was wrong, what a change, the government seems to think there has been no inflation for years, my guess is the statisticians have a disconnect between their numbers and their reality. Some thing are less expensive here than in Panama, housing being the biggest bargain. Diesel is about the same price, gasoline lower, cars are less expensive and depending on your choice of restaurants either lower or higher.

It is said that confession is good for the soul, so I confess to eating a Sausage McMuffin with egg, my favorite on the run breakfast. I cannot remember the cost in David, but here it was $3.70 when they gave it to me it lacked the potatoes and coffee, they said that was extra, it did however include 620 calories, no extra charge.

From what I can see overall eating the way I eat, is more expensive here than Panama. Most of my eating habits have evolved in Panama, (hypocrisy of Egg McMuffins noted) to lots of seafood, grass feed beef, free range pork and chicken served with fresh locally grown vegetables and tropical fruits. Even some of the trash food I like is expensive here. When I return I will post a short super market survey for comparison of food costs. I have been working on my list of food related items as I take care of the business that lured me back.

My neighbor and friend Phyllis  has tried to inform me that taking picture of food is related to some mental disorder, perhaps, but if that is my major infirmity I will accept the diagnosis and move on.  I do travel on my stomach and each trip is a struggle with not being able to enjoy all the smells, tastes and textures I want to try. Yesterday it was McDonalds, Rosas on Campbell and Ft Lowell for a Chimichanga and Lil Abners on Silverbell for beef. I realized that I have been eating steak at lil Abners for more than forty years, it used to be miles out of town on a rural road. Now it is the still the same funky building surrounded by “progress” and environmental destruction.

Phyllis these photos are for you!

Little Abners Tucson Arizona

Mexican food on the grill in parking lot

Carne Seca Chimichanga at Rosas in Tucson AZ.

On my way out of David I managed to snap a photo of the Port of Pedregal.

There is lots of water flowing into the sea but it is not in the right place for generating electricity and Panama has a real problem. Notice the brown areas near the top of the photo that once were green, before deforestation. the trees hold the water and removing them does not help a watershed.

These photos posted on Facebook by Dr. Regulo Valdes show Fortuna Reservoir today, 8 May, not looking good.

Tonight I am in hotel in Panama City. I visited the Multicentro Mall and they did indeed shut of their air conditioning, the mall was warming up. I also visited a Casino and their AC was refrigerator cold.

At seven PM I took this photo.

According to the new emergency order all those commercial lights and the casino across from me are supposed shut down at 10pm.

You know the situation is evolving when the government starts with closing their offices early, something few would notice, moves to closing schools that use almost no electricity, Mayra does not even have a light bulb in her class room,  to the now desperate measures of cutting revenues to the Casinos. We now know the cause is just and problem is real.

Panama needs rain, lots of rain, but not all at once or the flooding will be horrific.

They have a new option for Panama only health insurance that includes Hospital Chiriqui and Punta Pacifica in Panama City as the two in network providers. They want to be very clear this has nothing to do with the MS Chiriqui plan many people here use. The only common element is the hospital is a provider to both plans.

This Panama only plan requires you be under 64 years old at the time of enrollment; if enrolled you can continue coverage until age 100 with premium increases as you mature more.

If you are over 64 they have an international plan with three options that allows enrollment up to the day before you turn 75.

Please address any questions to Sr Bellisario, not me.

If you want more information the contact in David is
Belisario Centeno S.
telephone 775-9237
telephone 775-1615
FAX 775-8478
Cell 6672-4479
email minsl@yahoo.com

For more information and some idea of costs www.worldwidegroup.co

I tried to do an online quote, but alas, this is Panama. It did not work for me using Safari or Firefox, maybe IE but I don’t have it. Rates will vary with age, sex, health etc.

My Chili Verde  does not win any prizes but I like it and it can be done with almost entirely local ingredients. This is not exactly the same as what I prepared for the Buenos Vecinos event, nor is it traditional, but it is my preferred method using what we have available here way south of Arizona.

Boquete Chili Verde con Puerco, the recipe, not the picture, I forgot to take a picture.

Scaled for 8 servings mas o menos

1.o kilo of Carne Lisa, boneless pork, usually from the leg, they say. Cubed in 1 cm cubes. I ground it for the cook off, but cubed is much better.

8 poblano chiles, fresh, usually at Super Baru or Romero, San Mateo in David. You can substitute canned green chiles if you can find them. I buy these when they have them, roast, skin and freeze for when I want them. The level of heat varies a great deal with the local Poblanos but they tend toward mild.  You can kick it up with a couple of chopped Jalapeños which you can usually find in the same places.

1 -2 Tbs lard or if you insist vegetable oil

1 large onion chopped

5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1tsp of cumin

4 chopped Culantro leaves (Cilantro is good too)

1 can 15oz of cubed tomatoes, drained or better some blanched, skinned roma tomatoes, remove the seeds and cube.

200 grams mas o menos of tomatillos, chopped fine or pureed, hard to find here, in a pinch use a can of green mexican salsa, I do.

A six pack of Balboa or other lager, don’t waste the dark beer on this, drink it instead.

salt

some flour as needed

some corn meal, I like the Arepas corn meal because I have it in the house.

Ok the fun starts now

You need to fire roast the chilies, here are a few techniques.

1. Using insulated thongs hold them over a gas flame, rotating until charred evenly and then put them into a covered heatproof ceramic or glass container and cover adding them until all are done.

or

2. Put them on a tray under a broiler, turning as needed to char and them,  then put them into a covered heatproof ceramic or glass container and cover adding them until all are done.

Let them sit until cold and the skin will come off easily. Wash and removed stems and seeds.

Chop the chilies and if you have a food processor turn half into a pulp, leave half chopped.

Cookery

Next heat up a heavy dutch oven or a big heavy frying pan with a lid on the stove, add the lard and then the pork chunks. You want to brown the pork so if necessary do it in batches. Remove the pork and add the onions and garlic. Sauté until translucent but not brown. Then add enough flour to absorb the lard and cook a little more to cook the flour.

Return the pork and any juices from the pork. Add the tomatillos, cumin, culantro, the chile both the puree and chopped and one can of beer, less the can of course. Open a second beer for consumption because this is hard work.

Cover and simmer until the pork is falling apart. I like to use a pressure cooker because I hate waiting, usually about 30 minutes of pressure works vs. hours of simmering on a stove and that way I still have some beer left for dinner. Or you can use a crock pot and lament the long term delay in eating.

Add salt to taste and enough corn meal to thicken the sauce. The corn meal adds a pleasing texture. The beer adds flavor and drinking it makes the entire experience worth doing, over and over.

Break out the tortillas or serve over rice and enjoy with any remaining beer.

Cinco de Mayo is a big day for local Mariachis and this event at Amigos had many participants who donated their time and money cooking Mexican food for the many attendees who came.

Buenos Vecinos de Boquete is a small group of volunteers who deliver food supplies to the handicapped and elderly on a monthly basis. If you missed the event you can make donations at the Tuesday meeting they will help feed people who need help.

I was surprised at the absence of another important community group that usually attends and participates in fund raising for good causes, no Dog Breath Chili from Amigos de Animales, a past award winner. I missed their energy and their chili. It is a shame they were not there.

Still the food was good, the Panamanian Gene Autry, below, was fun and the food I managed to taste was all done with love.

Mayra and I dished out some Boquete Green, our local variant of Chili Verde. We did not win any awards, but that was not the reason we went. We were there to support a group that does good things for people who need their assistance.

We the expats in Boquete do some very positive things for our community and those who benefit appreciate the assistance and that was obvious from the increased Panamanian participation in this and other events.

Todays recipe is made from a Dorado I bought whole from the back of a pickup in Bajo Boquete, it was $2 a pound, whole. I asked the vendor to fillet it and he had broke out the knife and board.

If you do not know how to pick a fresh fish from a vendor this old post has some hints. LINK

I took the filets and the skeleton and head too. They made for a great fish soup, but that is another story.

Thai Curried Dorado with Langostinos in a clam and curry sauce

Ingredients

Dorado filetes

Cleaned langosintos

cleaned, rewashed almejas, clams

Red and green bell peppers, Julianne

Thai yellow curry

cooking oil and butter

flour

Coconut milk

cooked rice as a side is perfect

I found the curry in Panama City at Foodie in Bar Harbor center, Patilla

I like to dust the fillet with some flour to give it a crisp exterior

In a heavy frying pan melt some butter and add some olive oil. The butter helps browning, and pan fry the fish until it is done.

At the same time mas o menos, put 1 tbs of cooking oil into a heavy saucepan. Heat at medium and add some of the chili paste. How much is a guess base upon your heat level lust. I like a bit less than one tablespoon. Stir fry the chili until it is aromatic, not too long.

Add about half a cup of the coconut milk and stir until it boils. Add the langostinos and the clams. Then cook about five minutes or until the langostinos are turning pink. Add the vegetables and and the rest of the coconut milk. Bring back to a boil and give them about another five to seven minutes at a simmer. You want them cooked through but not rubber.

Plate the fish and rice, put the langostinos on the fish and pour the clam curry sauce over the fillet. Then savor the aroma. Sake is a great accompaniment and you can now get in at Romero.

Here are links to the earlier posts if you missed them, the first on the hotel, the second on the food.

The island is the polar opposite of the desert Island of Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Caruso. Isla Palenque is tropical rain forest and most of it will remain as it is, a nature preserve. The coasts and beaches, about five percent of the island, are scheduled for development. The development is environmentally sensitive, no clear cutting, minimal environmental footprint. The developer is integrating the homes into the landscape as much as possible.

The entire island is privately owned and varies between 400 acres at high tide and 440 acres when the ocean recedes and reveals some wonderful sand beaches and great tide pools.

Tide pools

Beach Isla Palenque

Beaches and more

We stayed in the current six room resort which will become someone’s home and ate some wonderful food. In addition we took a hike, saw some howler monkeys and a lone monster iguana marching the narrow roads cut into the island.

Howler Monkeys outside the hotel

The developer Amble Resorts, is an American company and is selling innovative houses on the island. I doubt anyone will want to live on Isla Palenque full time, so the houses have the option to enter a rental pool.  If you did decide to invest $300,000 or more in a home you will have the potential to reap some rental income. If you choose not invest and just want to rent for short stays there should be many options to choose from.

Houses are selling and many more have been reserved. The developer is doing something not seen in a Panamanian project, they are using a US based escrow company. Buyers put down a deposit into escrow with payment due on delivery, something that makes purchasing pre-construction a bit safer than normal in Panama.

If you ever wanted to have a piece of a tropical island for escape from reality this might be an opportunity for you. I suspect we will be intermittent visitors and enjoy the change from the mountains periodically.

For more information see their website. This is the LINK to their website for more information.

Napoleon is credited with saying that “an army marches on it’s stomach”.  Not everyone will agree but to me a great vacation requires great food.  Great food can be mean different things to different people. I like to try new things. I like innovative cuisine, I like things I cannot or will not cook at home.

Our trip to Isla Palenque had included a surprise, great food, the best I have eaten in Chiriqui, the best I have eaten in Panama.

In April 2011 I wrote a restaurant review of The Rock in Boquete, in that review I said,  ”About two weeks ago Mayra and I ate at the La Casa de Lourdes, an acclaimed restaurant in El Valle.  The meal in El Valle was not even close in quality or taste; this was excellent food”. The chef at the Rock was a Panamanian named Oliver Blond, Oliver is now the chef at Isla Palenque.

Chef Oliver Blond

On Isla Palenque the chef has a captive small and demanding market. He can be innovative or lazy. Oliver selected innovative and excellent. His food qualified as the best I have eaten in Panama. He has taken local ingredients and produced unique variations including some with very traditional names and non traditional execution.

The Island has it’s own organic gardens and produces much of what is served. It also has the Pacific Ocean on it’s doorstep providing fresh fish, lobster, shrimp and more.

So here is the naked truth, to us foodies, the following photos might be pornographic. These photos are a hollow expression of how good the food actually looked, smelled and tasted.

Like all people who never grew up,  I like to start with dessert. Here is a crepe stuffed with strawberries and covered with island produced coconut ice cream.

Strawberry crepe with coconut ice cream

When Mayra saw traditional dishes on the menu she wanted to see how different they could be. She tried the Arroz con Pollo and said, “the is the best I have ever eaten”. It had both flavor and lots of chicken.

Arroz con pollo, Rice and Chicken

I needed to see what could be done to make a Cuban sandwich different, it was heaven on toasted bread, unlike any I have eaten before.

Cubano with fried yucca

Sancocho is another Panamanian tradition, just like Mayra texting while she eats. This soup was the best Sancocho either of us has ever eaten.

Sancocho, Panamanian Chicken Soup

Mayra never tasted a salad with marinated beef in it before this one, exceptional.

Organic Salad with marinated beef

Oliver was trained as a chef in Chile, so when I saw Lobster Empanadas on the menu I knew it would be a test of his education. We spent two weeks in Chile eating scores of empanadas in January, none tasted this good.

Lobster Empanada

Grilled Fish

If you look at the Corvina plate in the Rock review and look at this grilled fish you will see some signatures of the chef and some new innovations.

Pork Chop

Chuleta, pork chop,  in Panama usually means a thin cut, rib in pork chop either grilled to oblivion or fried. This two rib thick chop was moist on the inside and covered in a perfectly complimentary sauce.

If this was not enough to make you salivate our final evening meal had the following menu. Neither of us could make to the end and it was very fortunate we only had to walk a few score meters to our room.

So to all you who say Chiriqui does not have GREAT food, you just haven’t been to Isla Palenque, yet.

This is the LINK to their website for more information.