In Panama the tradition is to eat a tipico meal on the afternoon of New Year's Day. Tamales and sancocho are the usual fare, among other things. On this occasion the tamales are fancier than usual. The most common form of sancocho in the Panamanian diet, including on New Year's, is the kind that's made with chicken. Here, though, since there is chicken in the tamales, we will do another Panamanian classic, sancocho de mariscos.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. dried corn kernels
1 cup boiling water
2 Tablespoons bacon grease 2 lbs. pork, cubed
1 whole chicken, cut in 8 pieces
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons achiote
2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch squares
2 cups chopped onions
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 lbs. firm tomatoes, chopped
4 leaves fresh culantro, chopped
1 aji chombo pepper, finely minced
1 cup green Spanish olives (pitted and stuffed with pimientos)
Salt to taste
1 cup white wine

Plantain leaves
1 lb. pitted prunes
2 cups stuffed Spanish green olives
2 Tablespoons capers


Directions:

• Soak the corn overnight in water
• Discard soaking water, replace with enough water to cover
• Cook over medium heat until the corn is tender
• Drain and grind the corn, in a food processor, blender or meat grinder
• Add the cup of boiling water and the bacon grease
• Knead the mixture until you get a smooth smooth consistency
• Cover while you are preparing the filling
• Heat the vegetable oil in large pan
• Add the achiote
• Simmer until all the red color is all extracted from the achiote
• Strain achiote out of oil, retaining the oil
• Deep fry the chicken in the oil until lightly browned
• Remove the chicken, drain on paper
• Deep fry the onions, garlic and bell peppers in the oil in which you cooked the chicken until soft
• Add the tomatoes, culantro, aji chombo, salt and wine
• Add the chicken and pork
• Simmer until the meats are tender
• Separate the meats from the mixture
• Knead the remaining sauce with the corn dough

• Pass the plantain leaves over a slow fire, cut out the middle veins, wipe each leaf with a clean damp cloth
• Wrapping in 2 or 3 overlapping leaves, place some dough in the middle and spread it evenly
• Put two tablespoons of meat, a strip of pimento, a prune, and 1 or 2 olives on the dough, and cover these with more dough
• Fold the plantain leaves over the mixture and tie with a string
• Boil the tamales in a large pot of water for one hour

Ingredients:

1 lb. corvina filets, cut into half-inch squares
1/2 lb. shrimp or langostinos
1/2 lb. squid, cleaned and cut into small pieces
1/2 lb. oysters
Salt and black pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
2 limes
8 cups water
2 packages dried instant shrimp soup mix
1 large envelope salsa criolla
4 large ripe plaintains
2 lb. yucca, peeled and cut into quarter-inch thick slices
2 lb. ñame, peeled and cut into half-inch cubes
2 cups coconut milk
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 leaves fresh culantro, chopped
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
8 cloves garlic, minced
4 large ripe tomatoes, diced
4 cobs of fresh corn, cut into two-inch lengths


Directions:

• Fry the seafood in the vegetable oil until slightly brown
• Remove from frying pan, discard oil
• Add salt and pepper to taste, squeeze lime juice over seafood mix
• Add the seafood and all of the other ingredients into a large pot
• Simmer together, stirring occasionally, until the corn, yucca and ñame are tender