The Hirshon Panamanian Carimañolas

Citizens, Panama, officially called the Republic of Panama (Spanish: República de Panamá), is a country considered to be entirely in North America or Central America.

It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia (in South America) to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half of the country’s 3.9 million people.

Panama was inhabited by several indigenous tribes prior to settlement by the Spanish in the 16th century. Panama broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined, eventually becoming the Republic of Colombia.

With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977 an agreement was signed for the total transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the 20th century, which culminated on 31 December 1999.

Revenue from canal tolls continues to represent a significant portion of Panama’s GDP, although commerce, banking, and tourism are major and growing sectors. In 2015 Panama ranked 60th in the world in terms of the Human Development Index.

Since 2010, Panama remains the second most competitive economy in Latin America, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. Covering around 40 percent of its land area, Panama’s jungles are home to an abundance of tropical plants and animals – some of them to be found nowhere else on the planet.

This delicious dish is a Panamanian favorite: yuca is also known as cassava or yucca, BTW.

As noted on the excellent blog 196flavors.com:

Carimañola consists of mashed cassava, which is filled with beef, chicken or cheese, depending on the area where it is prepared. These snacks are then deep fried and served with condiments like aji or suero.

It is difficult to determine the history of this dish, although the etymology of the word carimañola appears to come from carmañola which derives from the French carmagnole.

Carmagnole was a short jacket worn by working-class militants called sans-culottes adopted from the Piedmontese peasant costume whose name derives from the town of Carmagnola. These jackets, which became fashionable in Paris during the French Revolution (1789-1799) gave the name to the song “carmagnole” which was the most popular song during the French revolution.

It is possible the name of this dish comes from the times of the French Revolution, and it refers to cassava wrapping the filling as “a jacket”.

I choose to serve these with a delicuous and spicy dipping sauce straight out of Peru – it’s not authentically Panamanian to do this, but it is delicious! My filling is also much more complex than your typical carimañola, but this is as expected here at TFD nation!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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