Plantains are great. think of them as a savoury banana, they are much starchier. they are extremely robust and suited do different purposes at different stages of ripeness. from wiki:
Musa x paradisiaca, the plantain (pronounced /ˈplæntɨn/, also US: /plænˈteɪn/)[1] is a crop in the genus Musa and is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana (which is sometimes called the dessert banana).
The population of North America was first introduced to the banana plantain, and in the United States and Europe "banana" generally refers to that variety. The word "banana" is often used (some would say incorrectly, although there is no formal botanical distinction between bananas and plantains) to describe other plantain varieties, and names may reflect local uses or characteristics of varieties: cooking plantain, banana plantain, beer banana, bocadillo plantain, etc. All members of the genus Musa are indigenous to the tropical regions of Southeast Asia and Oceania, including the (redundant term) Malay Archipelago (modern Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines) and Northern Australia.[2]
Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas. Bananas are most often eaten raw, while plantains usually require cooking or other processing, and are used either when green or under-ripe (and therefore starchy) or overripe (and therefore sweet). Plantains are a staple food in the tropical regions of the world, treated in much the same way as potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by steaming, boiling or frying. Regions with Plantain crops include the Southern United States, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Southern Brazil, the Canary Islands, the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, Madeira, Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Okinawa, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Pacific Islands and northern Australia. Farmers grow plantains as far north as Northern California and as far south as KwaZulu-Natal.
Plantains are mostly sterile triploid hybrids between the species Musa acuminata (A genome), and Musa balbisiana (B genome). Musa species are likely native to India and Southern Asia. It is assumed that the Portuguese Franciscan friars were responsible for the introduction of plantains from Africa to the Caribbean islands and other parts of the Americas.[3] |
there is a lot of detail in this article about various things to do with them:
unless they are really ripe (verging on black) they'll need cooking. They're great grilled, fried, baked, whatever. I've heard of boiling them but I haven't myself because I don't like to boil any fruit or vege if I can avoid it. Don't try and eat them raw when green / yellow. it's gross. They hold up to cooking pretty well, but will go a little floppy. they don't fall apart though which is good.
I actually have photos of the crepes, I'll chuck them up here.
get crepes cooking, store in oven til needed:
slice plantains
I dusted mine in cinnamon and nutmeg mixed in flour. yum!
fry in butter:
consume on the edible plate you made earlier with a squirt of lime (if you need a plate when you make crepes / pancakes you didn't make them yummy enough)
I generally fold up my crepe into quarters but that was hard to do while holding a camera. Get some, they last for ages while you umm and ahh about what to do with them! they get much sweeter when cooked. |