The venerable Joy of Cooking (c) 1997, Rombauer, Becker & Becker, gives but a brief nod to the plantain, noting that "Plantains are a close relation of the banana, but they are starchier and therefore always cooked. The form and degree of cooking depends on a plantain's stage of ripeness. When green it is very hard, not sweet, and barely banana flavored. Green plantains are cooked like potatoes, in their skins and the timing is similar. When the skin is yellow, the plantains are half-ripe. Cook them with the skin on as for potatoes; the flesh will be creamy and have a delicate banana taste. When the skin is brown to black, cook plantains as you would a banana -- the flesh will be soft but firmer thaan a banana's . . . "

". . . Green and half-ripe plantains can be ripened like bananas at room temperature; this will take several days. Once ripe, plantains will keep for a few days at room temperature or in the refrigerator."

"Plantains have affinities with butter, lime juice, rice and other tropical fruits. Allow one half plantain per serving."

Let us not dwell too long on this decidedly potato-and-banana oriented perspective.  A plantain is like a potato as a screw-driver is like a butter knife. You might could swap one for the other in a pinch, but knowing them both you would not normally think of them both in the same moment. Similarly, a plantain DOES look like a banana on first glance, but it is a decidedly superior fruit in many ways.

We eat a lot of plantains on "Sand Dollar" and we are always amazed to find yet another way to use them. If you have a supply available, try them green first and work your way to the riper varieties as your love of plantains matures.

Green Plantain-alia
The green plantain is a sturdy and long-storing commodity. You can dump a ton of plantains out of the back of a one ton truck onto a hot concrete road one morning and the plantains at the bottom will still be sellable at the market the following day (at least until the next truck arrives -- being gringoes, we have bought just before the arrival of the next shipment on more than one occasion. Oh, maybe a beat up plantain would not sell in a US grocery, where the skin of a fruit or vegetable is generally thought to indicate the health of the interior, but with plantains, there seems to be little relation between the condition of the outer skin and the quality of the inner fruit.

topics

bread-food
ripening from the outside
boil and peel
bake with cheese
pan fry
boil in coca-cola then sautee
cut up in soup
patacones (use in lieu of bun for hamburger)
plantain chips