If there is one good thing that's come from the current situation in the F&B industry, it is solid home cooking. The better thing is the exposure to various cuisines people ate growing up.
Raymond Gonzalez of Casa Panza. (Photos: Siroj Pairomahakij)
Enter Casa Panza, Cuban deliciousness by Raymond Gonzalez. "The pandemic hit my tutoring business hard. I had nothing to do, so I would have friends over and cook for them. One crazy night, on November 24 last year, I created an Instagram account for the 'tummy house' aka Casa Panza. There was a need at my end, to start anew and this was it. Before the pandemic, there was a big push for Spanish food. It gave me the opportunity to say, 'Okay, Spanish food is big, but let me see if I can bring Cuban food, which has many similarities to Spanish food, into that corner'."
Gonzalez isn't new to the F&B business, in Houston, Texas, his family ran Mexican restaurants, though the recipes on the Casa Panza menu aren't Mexican and are not his family's. They are his. "These are my recipes from when I was 21. After graduating university I went to Colorado to stay with my aunt, who had no idea how to cook. So my grandmother sent me a Cuban cookbook, from which I taught myself the basics and the fundamentals. Then I began tweaking the recipes to fit what I thought was better and would make my grandmother proud of me. Little by little, I started cooking all the time and now I'm doing it for a living," says Gonzalez.
From left: Cuban home cooking at its best at Casa Panza; Pastelitos de guayaba.
Maduros and Yuquitas.
From left: Flan; Arroz con pollo.
Ropa vieja.
The menu has been carefully chosen to introduce Cuban food to the Thai market. Basic, everyday dishes are the name of Casa Panza's game. "I started with those seven or eight dishes and began expanding into Cuban bread and pastries. I now have a larger menu, with most dishes available all the time for order and that kicks off tomorrow," says Gonzalez.
The best-seller on Casa Panza's menu is his made-from-scratch Cubano (B360), available Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays . It may (or not) come as a shock to many that the famous Cubano, a sandwich made with Cuban bread and stuffed with ham, roast pork, cheese, pickles and mustard, isn't traditionally Cuban and can't be found in Cuba. "The Cubano is more Cuban-American, like me. Cuban bread is hard to make and is a mix between Hawaiian bread and a brioche, proving takes 12 hours and it contains two yeasts in it. There is also a specific ham that goes into the sandwich. I wanted to expand on that and make it food you'd find at a corner in Miami, which to me is true, Cuban food." If you're just after the bread, the Pan Cubano comes as a loaf for B95.
The Arroz con pollo (B290), is the Cuban spin on Spain's paella. This one is Saffron rice and chicken cooked paella-style. "A sofrito is usually the base for everything Cuban and starts off with onions, bell peppers, either red or green, garlic and tomatoes. From there we go on to either, red or white wine, tomato paste, tomato sauce and sazon, which is a mixture of spices that I make in-house," adds Gonzalez. The Arroz con pollo is available on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The Ropa vieja (B340), available on Mondays and Fridays, is pulled braised beef served with rice. The braised beef is pressure-cooked for two hours so when ready it's already falling apart.
A staple with every meal are the ample sides, like the Maduros (B120) or fried sweet plantains (love!), Tostones con mojo or fried green plantains with a garlic oil (120) or Yuquitas or fried cassava, which at Casa Panza come either fried (Yuca fritz con mojo B115) or unfried (Yuca con mojo B95) but both with a garlic sauce. The Frijoles negros or Cuban black beans (B80) are great with the Arroz blanco or garlic-infused white rice (B35). Yes, I do love garlic and I loved the black beans and rice.
Casa Panza is a good example of "come for the Cubano, stay for desserts". The Pastelitos de guayaba or guava paste pastries are B300 for three or B1,080 for 12. The pink guava paste is imported from Miami to give customers a taste of the real McCoy. If you want to turn things up a notch, try the Pastelitos de guayaba queso (three for B360 or 12 for B1,305) or guava and cream cheese pastries and you won't stop at eating just one. Calories be damned!
I miss good savoury pastries in Bangkok, which are abundant in the city I grew up in, Bombay. As luck would have it, Casa Panza does a mean Pastelitos de carne (three for B310 or 12 for B1,150) minced beef pastries. Perfect tea-time snack or that odd midnight food craving!
I am a flan lover and it features in my top five desserts, even though I'm not a desserts person. The milk and egg custard (B290) at Casa Panza serves four (or 1, in my case) and is pretty, pretty good.
Though these are just a few of the dishes on Casa Panza's menu. Gonzalez's expansive new menu will launch on Saturday, July 3. So look out for it tomorrow!
Casa Panza is delivery only / Visit casapanzabkk.com to order or call 062-226-2295, IG: @casapanzabkk, FB: @casapanzabkk or email casapanzabkk@gmail.com.
