Panamanian Culture and Cuisine
Trip Start
Unknown
1
Trip End
Ongoing
El Valle de Anton,
Cocle,
Panama
Sunday, July 12, 2009
El Valle is a charming seven square mile village surrounded by a volcanic caldera that had existed for millennia as a deep lake. Then several thousands years ago the crater sprung a leak and when the lake emptied some of the richest volcanic soil in the world remained on the valley floor. This soil, called tierra negra or black earth, is so esteemed by local horticulturists that it's sold in bags throughout the republic and you can see its affect on many of the sprouting fence posts lining local roads. El Valle's cool 2,000 foot elevation has made it a coveted retreat for established Panamanian families since the early 20th century. The locals have been climbing the same hills and swimming the same streams for over 11,000 years which makes El Valle the oldest continually human occupied volcanic site in the world. The first real road, tracing the meanderings of the builder's horse as it headed up the mountain, was built with donated funds and labor from the community in 1927 and repaved in 1997.
Because of its small size, and relative isolation from Panama City, El Valle is a stunning example of the cultural, environmental and culinary bounty of Old Panama. The flat terrain of the valley's floor makes the bicycle the favored mode of transportation and during rush hour many, often loaded down with several family members, are seen quietly gliding down the main street. There's no fast food in the village but a variety of smaller restaurants, four mini supers that stock fresh meat and dry staples, the farmers market for produce, an ice cream parlor, a sports bar and even a weekend pizza purveyor. This interior village exemplifies pre canal Panama still somewhat insulated from today's urban cities with their hurried pace, westernized foodways and consumerism.
Both the village environment and the nearby, often cloud shrouded, Cerro Gaital National Monument offer an excellent opportunity to view some of Panama's 10,000 plant, 1500 tree, 1000 bird, 220 mammal, or 354 amphibian and reptile species. They might not all call El Valle home but a significant number do and the local zoo, although somewhat disheartening in it's housing practices, also has several of the harder to find species. You can ride a bike, horse or even walk to waterfalls, square trees, mud baths, a zoo, a museum, the forest canopy tour, pre-Columbian petroglyphs, farmers market, or cooking school. Cooking classes, tours of the local organic farm, coffee roaster, artesian bakery, and guided birding and fauna surveys are also available.
The program at the Three Sisters is the only eco/culinary/historical tour of it type in the lower Americas. If you're looking for true cultural immersion in a short time frame within a small, easily traveled, ecologically rich geographic location then this tour has been designed for you! The owners of the Three Sisters Cooking School have 65 years of shared hospitality experience in the San Francisco Bay Area and settled in El Valle in 2005. Their program is the only farm to fork, sea to plate learning adventure available in Panama and we'll harvest, prepare and relish native cultivars and recipes that have existed here for thousands of years. The lecture portion of the tours and classes will address the history, geography and social culture of the region and how these components formed the cuisine of Panama while the hands on segments will teach you to cook like a Panamanian!
