They are very similar to bananas, but generally different cultivars. Which means, scientifically, they are the same plant, but slightly different. As bananas and plantains are grown via cuttings - they are nearly identical to their mother plant, so any variation in the mother will be continued down the line. http://www.chow.com/ingredients/4
When I was in Peace Corps, we ate these ALOT. Boiled, green plantains are similar to potatoes, only they don't taste as good and are harder going down, which explains the high level of oil used in their consumption. They are often found in dishes like sancocho (a chunky stew) along with chicken, bread fruit, beans... But, at least in my area, generally served with oil, rice and beans.
The best way that my neighbors would make it, and not very often, was as tostones and mangu. Mangu http://tinyurl.com/3akcw7 is really pretty tasty, well, at least compared to regular plantaines. Tostones http://tinyurl.com/2lguwf
are great and were the local version of french fries - yummy with catsup.
They also ate boiled green bananas, though those weren't as "good" as the plantaines and they also ate the ripe plantaines, but not as often. Probably because they ate them before they would get ripe.
All that said, they are still much better than cassava/mantioc/yuca (all the same thing) which I also ate in great abundance while there. Yuca (local word for it - or as I called it, "yucky") is another starchy potatoe like root crop with an added bonus of being vaguely sticky...
All of this is an aquired taste and while I can eat it all, and did so for a couple of years, it's not something I go out of my way to buy. Though, I do have cravings for tostones on occasion...
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
Posts
Re: What are plantains? NT
