{"id":90,"date":"2016-07-07T20:33:43","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T20:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/?page_id=90"},"modified":"2016-07-13T20:04:41","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T20:04:41","slug":"tour-preparing-straw-for-the-finest-panama-hats","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/hat-lore-overview\/tour-how-a-panama-hat-is-made\/tour-preparing-straw-for-the-finest-panama-hats\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing Straw for the Finest Panama Hats"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sim\u00f3n brought the newly captured cogollos back to the\"tour_03_01_saep3\"\u00a0village. We were all looking forward to another Five-Hour Hike Plus Rainforest\u00a0Mud Challenge real soon. We decided to let the cogollos rest overnight. Wait.\u00a0Maybe it was the gringos we decided to let rest overnight, not so much the\u00a0cogollos.<\/p>\n

Next day, we were back at Sim\u00f3n\u2019s house, ready to see him tame\u00a0his wild cogollos.<\/p>\n

The cogollos were pretty docile, as far as I could tell. Not likely to put\u00a0up much of a fight. The smart money was on Sim\u00f3n for this\u00a0one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"tour_03_02_saeps97\"<\/p>\n

First, he removes the thick outside leaf casing from the cogollo. He uses\u00a0his thumbnails to peel open the tough covering, comprised of several\u00a0overlapping\u2026um, overlapping\u2026leaf things. Yeah, leaf things.\u00a0Technical term.<\/p>\n

As he peels each segment of the covering loose from the more tender leaf\u00a0shoots folded inside, he pulls it back and away from the cogollo. (below\u00a0left)<\/p>\n

\n

\"tour_03_03_saeps98\"
\n\"tour_03_04_saeps99\"After the outer covering has been removed, Sim\u00f3n fans open the\u00a0accordian-folded leaf shoot inside to verify its quality. (right)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"tour_03_05_saeps96\"<\/p>\n

The edges of each fold line are already less tender than the interior\u00a0portions. So those edges must be removed, leaving only the very lightest\u00a0colored, most tender parts.<\/p>\n

\"tour_03_06_saeps93\"<\/p>\n

Sim\u00f3n uses the tip of a deer antler to pierce the leaf shoots close
\nto the folded edges. He then slices the tool along the edge, separating tough\"tour_03_07_saeps94\"
\nfrom tender.<\/p>\n

He finds a spot about half way up, pokes and pierces, then extends his arm\u00a0to slice along the edge to the end. Poke, pierce, slice. Poke, pierce, slice.\u00a0Quick. Sure. Practiced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"tour_03_08_saeps34\"<\/p>\n

As with the leaf casings, the tougher outer edges are peeled back toward the\u00a0base of the stalk then pulled off.<\/p>\n

\"tour_03_09_saep23\"<\/p>\n

The strands to the left and right of the cogollo he is working on are the\u00a0outer edges that will be discarded. The choice center parts are laid back\u00a0toward him into his lap and kept up off the ground to prevent damage. Look\u00a0carefully, and you will see that Sim\u00f3n has organized his work into three\u00a0stacks. To his right are the cogollos, stripped of their casings but still with\u00a0the tougher outer edges of the fronds. To his left, closest to him are the\u00a0discarded edges, farther away are the pale tender selected parts of the\u00a0cogollos. (above, right, below right, below)<\/p>\n

\"tour_03_10_saeps36\"<\/p>\n

Toes are important. After all of the cogollos have been stripped of their\u00a0outer casings and folded edges, Sim\u00f3n goes back through them, tucking\u00a0the base of each stalk between his toes then separating the individual strands\u00a0of tender leaflets. (below)\"tour_03_11_saeps21\"<\/p>\n

It is not fast work. Sim\u00f3n spends a couple of hours preparing the\u00a0cogollos for the next stage.<\/p>\n

Of course a\"tour_03_12_saeps100\"fter all this they aren\u2019t called cogollos any more. Now\u00a0they are tallos. The tallos are bunched together in groups of four or five and\u00a0tied with loops of plant fiber.<\/p>\n

Chef Sim\u00f3n says they are properly cleaned and trussed, ready to be\u00a0cooked in a Panama Hat Soup.<\/p>\n

See Chef Sim\u00f3n cook Panama Hat Soup. NEXT PAGE<\/a><\/p>\n

\"tour_04_04_saec1\"\"tour_03_14_saep87\"\"tour_03_15_saeps7\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sim\u00f3n brought the newly captured cogollos back to the\u00a0village. We were all looking forward to another Five-Hour Hike Plus Rainforest\u00a0Mud Challenge real soon. We decided to let the cogollos rest overnight. Wait.\u00a0Maybe it was the gringos we decided to let rest overnight, not so much the\u00a0cogollos. Next day, we were back at Sim\u00f3n\u2019s house, ready […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":1075,"parent":86,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"tour-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-90","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3554,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90\/revisions\/3554"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}