Day 359 of 365 Things To Do in Panama

Day 359 of 365 Things To Do in Panama. Enjoy your Christmas Fruit Cake and Ron Ponche!

Enjoy the day of celebration and relax with family and friends but don't forget to indulge in the traditional desserts of bowls of fruit and Christmas Fruitcake washed down with a Christmas eggnog drink called Ron Ponche.

According to HowStuffWorks, "Culinary lore claims that ancient Egyptians placed an early version of the fruitcake on the tombs of loved ones, perhaps as food for the afterlife. But fruitcakes were not common until Roman times, when pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and barley mash were mixed together to form a ring-shaped dessert. Prized for its portability and shelf life, Roman soldiers often brought fruitcake with them to the battlefields. Later, in the Middle Ages, preserved fruit, spices and honey were added to the mix and fruitcakes gained popularity with crusaders. With the colonies providing a boon in cheap, raw materials, 16th-century fruitcakes contained cupfuls of sugar, which added another density booster to the cake. In addition, fruits from the Mediterranean were candied and added to the mixture, along with nuts. Each successive century seemed to contribute yet another element to the cake, like alcohol during the Victorian era, until it became weighty with the cumulative harvests of the seasons."