A little while ago I traveled to Panama with some loved ones. It was a ridiculously silly thing to do at the time and when we arrived it became an increasingly silly adventure to be on.

Upon our return two of our very good friends decided that they wanted to host a party where we would recreate the dishes that we served in Panama and film it for a TV network.

All in all it sounded like a great idea so here is a semi recap of the dinner we served in Panama being served to Americans in a loft in Brooklyn for television, with really nice lights and an unbelievable mean ambient temperature. Needless to say the moving picture version of this night will be broadcast sometime in future in a format beyond my control but hopefully with my diction.

Here is a small peak into what an amazing photographer and food stylist can do for the equatorially inspired food we made.

Menu
Butter Poached Lobster on Panamanian Tortillas with Cilantro Pesto and Candied Aji
Balsamic Pickled Peach Gaspacho
White Risotto with Black and White Prawns and Coconut Crisps
Mixed herb salad with fresh tomato, pixbae (pickled palm fruit) and toasted spiced nuts
Whisky Drizzled Crepes with goat cheese, mango and dark chocolate w/Cold Brewed coffee and tobacco whipped cream

Menu written with Mark Low and Danielle Florio

PS: If you look closely you can see Hunter.

All Photos:
Andrew Casey © 2008
Food Styling: Pablo Munoz (This man is an unbelievable talent.)

We started the meal off with a Panamanian style tortilla with a cilantro and chili sauce and a slice of reconstituted lobster meat that was poached in a beurre monte. A couple of candied chilies were place on top to cut through the richness of the lobster with some spice and sweetness.

We originally thought that putting the sauce on first was the best idea. But after some sober and personally introspective deliberation we agreed that the version pictured above and was amazingly less soggy and aggressive with it sauce delivery.

On to a delightfully refreshing dish we worked on all summer from our peaches party in July to this meal where it was retired due to the season change still unperfect but with great character. Pickled peach gazpacho with crème fraîche and compressed peach slices. When this balance between the pickled peaches and the fresh peaches finally works itself out this will a brilliantly refreshing dish. Topped with a touch of mint for greens-sake.

Look close to see the color break between the pureed fresh peach and tomato bases and the balsamic pickled peaches and cipolini onion core on which the fresh tomato slices sit.

Here we attacked the risotto and shrimp dish with a Coconut as the serving vessel, clearly showing that Mark has a flair for the dramatic. What seems to be a wasteful amount of salt and pepper used to hold the coconut in place was actually part of the final plating because it allow for the dish to be seasoned better by the guest as we had varying opinions on how spicy and salt the dish should be served.

I opted for super spicy with the blackened shrimp but we ended up toning it down a little after a guy on staff almost passed out. I will gladly serve this too you that spicy if you want and you too can almost pass out. I must say that if the test isn’t conducted in a room that is above body temperature and after a day of you holding a boom microphone out into space for 9 hours it won’t be completely equal.

Little herb salad with some delightfully ripe tomatoes and nuts, oh such spicy nuts.

This is dessert and we were really keen on the racing stripe for like an hour, and then I thought it wasn’t awesome. Then I ate it and thought it was great again. Then Pablo took this photo with Andrew and I like the background better than the crepe but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t tasty.

Did I mention that Mark’s Whisky Dizzle is stupid good.

Coffee and cigarettes rule the day again!

Panama was probably the best vacation I have gone on in a while. There are many reasons for this but the primary two are:

1. I had practically no travel responsibility; insomuch as all I had to do was wake up and be in paradise, eat, nap and then go to the beach.
2. I got to cook with some amazing friends, in an amazing country for some amazing people who were all really amazingly interesting and could dance averagely.

Here is a little chronology of the trip and the dinner that I cooked with my good friends Mark Low and Danielle Florio from The Whisk and Ladle in Panama City for some other amazing friends at Diablo Rosso.
Here is a short list of some of the things we tried while we were down there:
Butter Poached Lobster on Panamanian Tortillas with Cilantro Pesto and Candied Aji

White Risotto with Black and White Prawns and Coconut Crisps

Plantain Pizza with mango, aji, black beans and queso fresco

Chocolate Chip and Sea Salt Cookies

Aside from the cooking, while in country we were also witness to the country celebrating their first medal with the unbelievable long jumping of the amazing gold medal winning, Irving Saladino.  In retrospect this whole trip was in reverence to him and his accomplishments for himself and his country.

Having driven directly from our two day boar feast in rural Syracuse, NY to Newark Airport, my inability to properly grasp reality was at an all time high. After picking up a casual taco at the airport stand and some light periodical reading on science and spatial relations the airplane ride was amazingly uninvolved and sleep befit us proper and quick.

Upon arrival we were greeted by no one; it was an hour before our friends appeared with large grins and a night full of nonsense ahead of us. First stop was the 24 hour grocery store, as the island we were would be staying at was devoid of all provisions except beer, wine and beaches.

Mixing Ron& Cola was one of the better things I have ever been apart of.

The first thing that struck me as amazing was the variety of fruits that seemed to be taken for granted by our friends. They were constructed oblong, sharp and lumpy; bitter, sweet and acrid; colored as the flora of the streets we drove around the city.

The best game to play was: Bitter or sweet

Which is this one?

I hadn’t the strenght to inquire

The second thing was the apparent desire for a beverage made out of grain products.

After a brief discussion about the current state of the music industry and the obvious lacking that needed to be filled by our new band, we retired to prepare for the mornings travels.

Flying has never been a problem for me but when you are in a plane that is smaller than a garbage truck and can only hold as many people, including the pilots that you can count on your hands, the concept is pushed to the limit. Add to this formula a runway that is longer than the island we were hoping to land on but still not long enough for the plan to properly come to a full rest without pulling a sweet inner-city taxi style U-turn at the far end.

This island provided the perfect place to taste some local foods and do some sea level cooking at 100% humidity. Which in retrospect isn’t so far from NYC in August but still it seemed excessive.

These cookies were delightful and just could not be finished. We ate them all day and night, at the beach, in the little pool, on the hammock, in our beds. Danielle threw a little bit of this unbelievably resilient Panamanian sea salt in the batter and instead of breaking down and dissolving they just added a nice pop of savory in a cloud of chocolate chips.

The days got hard and Mark had to brew some of his now legendary cold brewed coffee to wash these bastards down.

This is Diablo Rosso’s café/art gallery transformed to be full of friends, while Mark, Danielle and I called to attention the room for a little culinary description and thanks to our gracious hosts.

This is Dr Salci and Saky Kosmas two of our gracious hosts. Thank you very much my friends and to the rest of the lovely people that extended their love and affection over what could have ever been imagined to make us feel comfortable and welcome..