A food moment

I was just released from the hospital after a three day stay. Yesterday, my wife and I got into a conversation with one of the nurses, Urika. The conversation soon turned to food and the food her parents made. She explained that she was from Panama, but that her people had come from the Caribbean to work the canal. In addition to the wonderful seafood, she remembered her dad cooking pig’s knuckles. First, he’d boil them, then put them in a pit outside, then freeze them, then he’d slowly cook them in a just a little water. This would crisp them up, and the aroma would bring everyone in the neighborhood to the door.

Her mother’s dish, both humbler and more loved, was coo-coo. Coo-coo, she explained, was made by throwing okra in a little water until it got slimy. Then, you would take some corn meal and pour it in a pot of water and stir it till smooth. The two would be added together and shaped into a bowl and emptied on a plate.

I am going to make coo-coo. Or maybe just polenta.