Anamaris Cousins Price's Blog (48)

Do you believe soups are better suited for a specific time of the year? Maybe when it is cold and dreary or rainy outside? For Panamanians, soup is on any day of the week and year. As a matter of fact, you'll find it on the daily lunch menu at every restaurant or Fonda around the country.…

This is a recipe I found in Jorge Jurado's cookbook, Sabores de Panamá. I should tell you it isn't a 'traditional' Panamanian dish, but rather an interpretation by this talented chef utilizing…

In Panama, we prepare rice in many different ways; sometimes with coconut milk, or various beans and peas. Anything you want, really. Two of my favorites are Arroz con Frijoles Negros (rice with black beans) and Arroz con Camarones Secos (rice with dried shrimp).

They're both easy to make and follow the same…

My dear friend Shun, as I affectionately call her, shared this dish with me many moons ago, and I was hooked after my first try. Fideos (noodles) are a simple symphony of spicy, smoky and fresh flavors. It is sometimes called sopa de fideos, which translates to dry noodle soup.…

I'm a lucky girl; I have a pretty cool day job. When they're not making me work for my money, I get the opportunity to accrue travel miles. Imagine my delight when I found out I was Argentina-bound. As The Hubbz' new t-shirt says 'Buenos F*ckn Aires'. Yeah, baby!

I have often dreamt of visiting this city and getting lost in its architectural beauty. The…

My seafood obsession is well documented. If you were to do a search on this here blog, you will probably find that fish and/or seafood appear more often than anything else. The Hubbz says I have the ocean(s) running through my veins and I suppose he's partly right. After all, I grew up with quick and easy access to the Atlantic and the Pacific and to all the goodness…

Puerco en Salsa Verde (pork in green sauce) is a very popular Mexican dish that marries chiles and tomatillos with pork meat, usually the shoulder. You'll find a few variations, with or without corn and at various degrees of heat = picante. One element that is always present, is that zingy tang of the…

I admit it. I spend a LOT of time watching cooking shows, a lot. I'm obsessed with them, sometimes I imagine I am sitting in their kitchens having a glass of wine while they tell me about how they came up with the concept for the dish. One of my favorites is Extra Virgin, hosted by Debi Mazar (of LA Law fame) and her husband, an Italian farmer and chef she met while traveling in Italy. They're a really cute couple and they prepare all the meals in…

Fish. I don't know what to call this one, but I'll tell you how it came about. Have you heard of fish a la Veracruzana? Usually snapper. It is a Mexican recipe, hailing from the state of Veracruz. It is fish cooked in a tangy and flavorful sauce that features tomato, herbs, olives, capers and  spices. I had some fillets in the freezer and started out thinking I would prepare them that way.

As the day…

I love learning new things, especially new cooking things. Be it techniques, flavors, ingredients, I love it. The world is so full of delicious and unique goodies, we would need to live several lifetimes in order to appreciate them all. There is a flower/plant that is very popular in Panama, the Caribbean and Mexico. In Panama and the Caribbean it is known as Saril or Red Sorrel. In Mexico, they call it Flor de Jamaica (Jamaican flower) and they…

Remember last year when my foodie obsession with Marx Foods began? I remember it like it was just yesterday, aahh that Mangalitsa ham *sigh*. Well, thanks to that very gorgeous piece of ham, I've been lucky enough to receive samples of their products…

Even though Mexican food is readily available in Houston, that doesn't mean you get good tamales. For years I enjoyed the Rolls-Royce of tamales, but most restaurants here serve tamales that are closer to a Yugo. My ex-mother-in-law made the best tamales I've eaten to date. She made them every year and would give each of her sons a few dozens to…

I think I've hinted at the fact that Panama is a big seafood country. I may have also shared that we love to party. Overindulgence is quite common to us. When it happens, you hear of various remedies and traditions to  cure a persistent hangover. One such remedy: Levanta muerto (raise the dead).

I'm uncertain where…

Have you ever rediscovered the value of something long forgotten? Reacquainted yourself with an old friend? Isn't it the best feeling in the world? I've had this little Panamanian cookbook for over 20 years -- it has the wear, tear and stains to prove it -- I think I've only pulled it out about 3 times a year for each year I've lived here. That's like 60…

My mom was an extraordinary cook and hostess. Some of my most cherished memories involve her, cooking and friends filling a room. It is only appropriate her cookbooks and notes would become my priceless inheritance.

While my sister and I cleaned out the house and determined what would stay and what would go, we came…

This is one of two dishes I prepared to participate in Foodalogue's Culinary Tour, this time visiting my stomping grounds, Panama! This dish came…

The first time I came across Joan's blog, Foodalogue, was because of her Culinary Tour events. She chooses a country and invites her readers on a virtual tour of that country and its cuisine. Joan's rules for her tour are very relaxed; one can make a…

I made this awesome dish as my contribution to Foodalogue's Culinary Tour as she takes us and her readers to my homeland, Panama! The criteria to participate in the tour is pretty relaxed, you can either  prepare a…

Sort of, but not exactly. See, confit is a French cooking and preservation method. The idea is to salt and flavor meats that are then slowly cooked in their own fat (or added fat) and later preserved in said fat. Carnitas are not preserved in the fat, though I don't see any reason why they couldn't be, except for the fact that they wouldn't last that long at the Price…

Have you ever heard of Johnny Mazzetti? If you're Panamanian (or have lived in Panama) you probably have. Funny thing is, in putting this post together, I came to learn about the history behind the dish. I don't think I believed this to be an original recipe by my mother, though I still think of it as her dish. Johnny Mazzetti, the dish, is very popular in Panama,…