Adventures of Being a Vegetarian in Panama

Work has kept me on my toes and so has the language, which is nothing new. After almost four months of living in Panama I have realized how influential food is with every day life. It is something we often over look. Food is cultural. People frequently ask me what a typical Panamanian dish is. For the most part it is pretty simple: animal protein (chicken or fish), rice, and a starch (fried potatoes or plantains). This doesn't quite fit with me being a vegetarian.

People often ask me about my vegetarianism. I considered myself a fairly strict vegetarian which began because I stopped craving animal protein. I did not consume any animals (fish/shellfish included) originally. Throughout my 5 years of being vegetarian my diet has changed. I try not consume gelatin, mostly because of how it is made.  I have also been spending more time avoiding refined sugars while replacing them with unrefined sugars; note I did not say alternative sweeteners like Stevia. Within the past month eggs have also left much of my diet, but mostly because after all of these years, my mom was right, my tastebuds change! People who do not consume animal milk, eggs, honey, gelatin, and avoid common table sugar are vegans.

This past week I went to a restaurant that has a fantastic lunch special. You get soup, a drink, fried potatoes, rice, and a protien-all for $6! Prior to ordering I assumed I could probably have a vegetarian option. I was wrong and ordered fish as the other options were less appealing. This is becoming a common occurrence to where I eat fish once or twice a month.  Finding healthy/satisfying vegetarian food is not that easy in restaurants.

I have to admit, this lunch gave me a whole new experience about Panamanian food because of the rice side you see: pigeon peas with coconut rice. I never had it before this lunch but had seen it canned and in the hot food section of stores. Coconut rice is delicious and the pigeon peas offered a nice textural balance to the sweet aroma coming from the rice. I found a recipe to replicate soon.

Typical Panamanian Food

Despite the fish that I eat on occasion, I eat it when there are no other options. Yes, I acknowledge I could have eaten everything but the fish from the photo above, but then it would be a waste. Life isn't always clear cut and sometimes there are exceptions to rules and definitions, especially when they are your own. Being a vegetarian anywhere can have its obstacles-regardless of where you are. Life has its obstacles and my food choices in Panama are just one of them.