Please join us on Monday, April 15 for an introduction to the foods, aromas, colors and culture of Panama as part of our Wilton Reads programming. We are excited to present Chef Yadira Stamp, an Afro-Latina native of Panama City, Panama and chef/owner of Esencias Panamenas Catering in Washington, D.C., where she prepares authentic Panamanian, Caribbean and Central American dishes and beverages. Esencias Panamenas is the only Panamanian catering company in the U.S. to offer its food nationwide.

Chef Yadira will be creating a Panamanian tasting menu of finger foods for you to sample as she speaks about native Panamanian gastronomy and the traditional cooking techniques she still uses today, after having learned them at the hands of culinary matriarchs in the Panamanian countryside. She will also speak about the history of the Panamanian people, and her own ancestral connection to the building of the Panama Canal.

Prior to becoming a chef, Yadira’s dream was to become an astronaut, which she pursued until NASA ended their apprenticeship program and she switched to Technical Design and Analysis for the next 30+ years. Yadira believes in “paying it forward,” by volunteering, and mentoring throughout the Washington, D.C. Metro Area and beyond; she spent five weeks in Ukraine as a member of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) where she helped to prepare hot, fresh meals every day for hundreds of thousands of people.

Chef Yadira has been featured in the U.S. media as well as in Panama City, Panama. Her first cookbook Panama on a Plate: Favorite Foods from My Birthplace was published in 2022. She is now working on her second cookbook, as well as developing a signature line of carimañolas to be sold in stores nationwide.

Chef Yadira will be selling and signing copies of her cookbook at the end of the program.

Registration for this program is required. Please be sure to answer the question about any food restrictions you have when registering.

Please register online or call (203)762-6334. For more information, contact cfquinn@wiltonlibrary.org.