As a gateway to world trade, cultures and cuisines collide in the Panama Canal. For most of the 20th century, Zonians enjoyed the blending of Panamanian, Caribbean, and American staples at the dinner table. One would visit the commissary for imported American goods and Panamanian markets for spices and produce not found in the States. Panamanian and Canal Zone restaurants still surface in conversations, sparking memories of favorite dishes and places. The foods and flavors of the Canal Zone influenced palates for generations.

“In our family, you have six generations that lived in a country overseas, and it was a different culture, in a way. There’s a slogan, the land divided, the world united, when they built the Canal. We had every culture because of all the people that came to build the Canal. Every culture in almost the entire world lived there and the stronger countries...their food and their ways were strong influences on our lives. We were introduced to so many wonderful people by living there, and you do feel different in that way. We’re not different than anybody in the U.S. because we all have stories to tell, whether you were from the Canal Zone or not.”

               – Bonnie Davis Dolan

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will not be in for two weeks.” The manager of the commissary was usually very accommodating when people who had just returned from state-side vacations asked him to order a new product they had seen or eaten while on vacation.”

- Cheryl Russell

School Lunch

“Elks Club, Number 1542. They had the best food there. The Knights of Columbus had the best hamburgers. We could get two hamburgers and all for twenty-five cents. When they gave us lunch money, we usually had to walk home for lunch, because they didn’t have lunch programs at the school back then. We had to either walk home but, when they gave us money for lunch, we mostly went to Knights of Columbus because you got the better deal than going to clubhouse.”

- Gail Tully

Commission Club House, Cristobal, C.Z., c.1904-1914

to some of the same restaurants and that kind of thing. For the most part most of our friends have gone, but we do have a dozen or more friends who still live in Panama who chose to stay there. So we still are able to go back and visit with them and that kind of thing. But the people of Panama are dear. They’re just real sweet people. I kinda miss that cultural mix that we don’t necessarily have up here with the Panamanian people, and the Panamanian dancing, and like I say the Panamanian food, and that kind of thing.”

- Cheryl Russell

Johnny Marzetti

“There’s also a dish called Johnny Marzetti that originally came from somewhere in the U.S., and there’s several families that say, that was my grandmother’s recipe. No, that was my grandmother’s recipe. So everyone claims that this originated from their family . . . So it’s in all of our cookbooks, Johnny Marzetti. It’s not a Latin dish, but it’s in the Zonian culture. As a kid growing up, you would be involved in different sporting and scouting activities. . . Well, the dinners would either be fried fish or be Johnny Marzetti, ‘cause you’d make up a batch, and everyone could sit down and do it. Everybody knows Johnny Marzetti, and it’s a favorite dish.”

- Bonnie Davis Dolan and Edward Dolan

Common Laborers’ Kitchen #2, Camp Bierd, Cristobal - Front View

Distasteful Meals during Construction

“After confronting strikes over food, officials resolved to improve food preparation and delivery . . . Officials also built a silver section of the commissary where West Indians could buy supplies and cook them on their own. The ICC began importing large quantities of sweet potatoes, yams, and codfish from Barbados . . . Spaniards repeatedly rioted over food and conditions in the mess halls. They assaulted cooks who failed to prepare meals to their liking . . . Officials made an effort to hire Spanish cooks for the Spanish mess halls, and they imported special foods for them as well—garbanzos, tomato puree, chorizos . . . Complaints by U.S. citizens . . . found the food monotonous and poorly prepared and the service horrible . . . Nurses at Ancon Hospital in particular received such poor food they felt compelled to supplement it with commissary purchases.”

-Julie Greene, The Canal Builders, 2009

so when they wanted chicken he went out and killed a chicken just to have good meat. It was hard to get fresh milk. I remember they kept trying to give me powdered milk and I wouldn’t drink it. Klim . . . All of us who were kids would remember it. It was nasty.”

- Carol Hellums

Influence of Neighboring Cultures

“Zonians are an amalgamation of three distinct cultures; American, Panamanian (Latin), and West-Indian. Consequently, it is only natural that Zonian cuisine is a blend of these cultures . . . Possibly the best known Panamanian meal was “ arroz con pollo” (rice and chicken), which had many variations; saffron rice or white rice, olives or no olives, peas or no peas. Empanadas often comprised my lunch when I was stationed at Ft Gulick. The Caramiñolas (meat stuffed yucca) from the Ft Amador Officer’s Club were one of my favorites . . . We were fortunate as the Townsend’s had Amy as our Jamaican help. Amy introduced us to Gungo Peas (Pigeon Peas) and rice. She added coconut milk to the rice for special flavor. Also, we’d have chayote (squash) with cheese or baked with breadcrumbs.”

- Frank Townsend

Kuna (Guna) Kitchen