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| RER 9.14.12 |
Plantains… Aren’t they just bananas?
They do have multiple personalities, sweet and savory, but I
wouldn’t call them crazy!
Sweet bananas or dessert bananas are the kinds that we eat
raw generally, they are soft and sweet. However, what are called plantains are
produced to be cooked. The distinguishing factor, even though the two are in
the same Musa genus, is how they are consumed. [1]
As wild as it is, bananas and plantains are herbs! These fruits belong to the
same plant family as cardamom, ginger, and turmeric, [2]
Zingiberales. [3] Even though
banana and plantain plants, unlike other herbs, grow to be as high as some
trees, they are not woody and what appears to be the stem is really just the
base of very large leaf stalks. This then makes them technically “gigantic
herbs.”[4]
But another thing to blow your mind about banana and plantain plants; this type
of plant is sterile, which means that the flower reproduces without
fertilization.[5]
Plantains are wild and bananas… but I still wouldn’t call
them crazy.
Plantains have a large and long history, and their
consumption occurs all around the world. Like the banana, plantains are
believed to have first originated in southeast Asia, and were cultivated in
India by around 500 B.C. It is interesting to note that plantains now are
really scarce in the region where they originated. The plant was probably
devastated by disease and never replanted in southeast Asia.[6]
The vast spread of the plantain is mainly due to trade,
travel and exploration. As the plant has great nutritional resources, the
plantain was a valuable food source to wherever it went, and was eventually
adopted and planted. Travelers spread the “berry” all over via ancient trade
routes to Africa[7] as well as
around Australia and New Guinea.[8]
Alexander the Great stumbled upon
plantains during his campaign to conquer the world while in India, around 327
B.C. and brought them back to Europe because he noted their cultural and
nutritional significance.[9]
By 1000 A.D., the plantain made its way further eastward towards Japan and
Samoa. The plantain arrived in the Caribbean and Latin America much much later
in as late as the 1500s.[10]
It is said that a Portuguese monk brought the plantain to the Caribbean in
1516, but they were being traded in the Canary Islands previous to that.[11]
Trade and exploration are also what brought them to the “New
World,” South and Central America. Along with other goods, plantains were
introduced and planted in the Americas, and they flourished. It was quickly
realized, as plantain farms multiplied, that this crop was much more reliable and
practical than others. Many more plantains can be harvested than potatoes or
even wheat on the same amount of land. Plantains became a more economical crop
with a higher yield and a longer growing season.[12]
Its widespread availability and long growth season make
plantains an incredibly reliable food source. Plantains fruit all year round,
which means constant and most time consistent supply. It has become a staple in
many tropical areas, like regions of Africa[13] and south America. Across the world,
bananas and plantains are the fourth largest caloric source, with nearly half a
billion people relying on them. They are only beaten out by rice, milk and
wheat. For these half a billion people, plantains make up the bulk and the
foundation of their daily carbohydrate intake.[14]
This means that this crop is an extremely important part of a lot of people’s
lives, and is an herb people depend on for a large percentage of their daily
carb intake. Each plantain has about 225 calories, depending on size, and also
make up about 20% of the daily value of carbohydrates.[15]
Throughout the history of the banana and the plantain,
medicinal value has also been attributed to the plant. Not only is it a huge
food source, the medical aspects of the plantain are also relevant. The
discovery of the benefits of plantains for bowel and stomach issues date back
thousands of years. The ancient Persians and Arabians used the giant herb to
help combat dysentery as well as many other intestine and stomach issues.
Alexander the Great, who introduced the plant to Europe, used plantains for
headaches, while in China, they were used for rheumatism, infertility and other
stomach issues. It has also been revealed through today’s science, that many
uses of plantains throughout the ages and the world have a strong scientific
base. [16]
Back to the important part, eating this gigantic, humongous
herb… Plantains are eaten a zillion different ways in many different places all
over the world, but they are rarely consumed raw. The plantain would have to be
very very dark brown, near black to be eaten without being cooked. Countries in
Africa, the Caribbean, in South America, and even here, boil, stew, fry,
sautee, mash… you name it to make plantains more palatable in effort to extract
the nutritional value. Each culture that uses the plantain, uses it in a
different variety of ways, but in the end, it still is a worldly staple.
Here, I am most exposed to some of the Latin ways of
preparing plantains. These are my favorite ways so far, to get out and to even
make at home!
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| RER 9.14.12 |
Tostones
These crunchy double fried treats are made when the plantain
is a fierce green, like it looks to be not ripe enough to even touch. The green
color means that the inside fruit is not going to be sweet, but it has a more
startchy and savory taste and feeling, kind of like a potato. Tostones are
super easy to make and super easy to demolish. All these little guys need is a
little slicing, a little hot vegetable oil, a little frying, a little smashing
and a little more frying. And at the end, a little salt. They are crunchy and
crispy, feeling startchy like potato chips, but a beautiful golden color. The
salt heightens the addictive character of the fried morsels.
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| RER 9.24.12 |
Maduros
Are kind of like the sticky sweet partner to tostones.
Maduros are best when the plantains are super super bruised looking, almost
brown. You know like, when the bananas on the counter are too soft to even
touch brown. Unlike our typical banana variety, the brown, speckled and bruised
plantain is not nearly as soft and smushy. They are much softer than their
bright green counter parts, making them much much sweeter. These start off the
same way as preparing the tostones, cut and fry. Somehow they produce
completely different reactions with the oil. The brown and sweet plantains, do
not crisp up in the same way as the green variety. The intense sugars browns
and becomes caramelized and sticky. However, maduros are not deep fried like
tostones.
Plantains are really as diverse as all the places they are
grown and consumed. There are a lot of different varieties and strains that
have been modified or grown throughout the world. The way they are prepared and
eaten is almost as diverse and vast. It is amazing how one little herb, well
not so little, can feed so many different kinds of people in so many different
kinds of ways, and become such an important cultural as well as nutritional
entity.
Don't forget to check out my sources page for more reading on the crazy large herb, the plantain!
RER
9.27.12
[1] wikipedia.org “Plantain”
[2]
elvalleinformation.wordpress.com “Bananas and Plantains, Origins, History and
Differences”
[3] Taxonomy Browser
(Zingiberales)
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser
[4] Wikipedia.org “Musa”
[5]
elvalleinformation.wordpress.com “Bananas and Plantains, Origins, History and
Differences”
[6] J.K. Allen “History of
Plantains” ehow.com
[7] wikipedia.org “Plantain”
[8] J.K. Allen “History of
Plantains” ehow.com
[9] J.K. Allen “History of
Plantains” ehow.com
[10] wikipedia.org “Plantain”
[11] J.K. Allen “History of
Plantains” ehow.com
[12] J.K. Allen “History of
Plantains” ehow.com
[13] wikipedia.org “Plantain”
[14] elvalleinformation.wordpress.com “Bananas and Plantains, Origins,
History and Differences”
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food for thought...