Depending on the region of Panama where it is prepared, it is known as "gollería" or "golloría," and it is a traditional Panamanian sweet made during Holy Week.
Delicious desserts
Panamanian desserts are a heritage of flavors brought by European colonizers and transmitted to local inhabitants, where an adaptation based on native ingredients occurred. Desserts like cabanga, palm fruit candy, or nance candy.
Gollería is a delicious, easy-to-make sweet bite consisting of grated green plantains fried and cooked in cane honey with cinnamon and vanilla flavor until reaching an appropriate caramelization point.
This homemade sweet has been passed down from old recipes, where exquisite desserts were prepared with local and natural ingredients like cane honey, to create typical delicacies such as cabanga or the popular nance candy.
The country's identity
Panamanian identity has evolved from colonial times to the present, with traditions resulting from a blend of races that have contributed the best of their beliefs and customs. The Panamanian tradition refers to this kind of dessert as “sweet,” which are a form of preserves created out of the need to preserve food.
This explains why sweets like gollería originate from a preservation process where seasonal fruits are cooked in honey, allowing them to be enjoyed year-round.
Gollería is one of those sweets that you usually won't find on menus at restaurants in Itsmé, but rather in traditional homemade desserts that have remained part of the Panamanian way of life.
