When you think of Panamanian snacks, one of the first things that comes to mind is Mafá. With its crunchy texture and curious shape, this delicious fried bread braid has captivated us for more than 160 years.
And the fact is that, like many other things, the Mafá is not purely Panamanian, but a Chinese invention, brought around 1854 with the first great Chinese migration prior to the construction of the interoceanic railroad.
Its name in Chinese would be pronounced similarly to Máhuā, with which it is easy to see its eventual transformation to “Mafá,” by the locals.
Even today, Mafá is found in “chinitos,” grocery stores, pharmacies and super markets, usually alongside such idiosyncratically Panamanian items as platanitos and pascual sandwich cookies.
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