hurry up and WAIT: ME Casa

RER 3.9.13

So we went to ME Casa in Jersey City, a small Puerto Rican spot, boasting great yelp reviews and word of mouth. The tiny subterranean restaurant was most definitely small and almost every table was full that Saturday night. It is a sweet, little set up, dark with candles and white table clothes, music in Spanish just under being too loud. I could not help but notice that despite its small size, two staff members were not enough for the mildly busy Saturday night.

We were not the only couple waiting for a table, but we were the couple that ended up waiting much longer than the host/waiter/owner said initially. Unfortunately, he looked frazzled, overwhelmed, and perhaps in too deep. It was apparent that he was trying to be in too many places at once; behind the front counter to greet the crowd, serving dishes to a loud party of girls, answering the phone and being overall attentive.  Also during our long wait, we were able to notice, that as well as some of the new enough restaurant’s surface shortcomings.

RER 3.9.13

As previously mentioned, there was not enough staff to meet the needs of the visiting patrons. Sometimes, small spaces and table capacity does not require too many people working, but on a Saturday night with a steady stream of people, more could be beneficial. There is nothing worse than leaving a bad impression because of a simple service problem that could be fixed.

This was underlined even further during our meal, as we had the perfect view to watch a lady who ordered for take out fight for the attention of the staff. I saw her frustration and felt it too, just in our wait and seeing the disorganization. It almost looked as if they were ignoring her, treating other patrons as if they were more important.

This was also reflected in our meal. It was really really slow. Some times that can be equated with precision and quality, but in this case it seemed like an overrun kitchen. Looking around, it seemed like many of the people were waiting for food. It was rare that many of the tables had their food at the same time. Sometimes it felt quiet, silence from hunger and frustration and modified patience.

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I was too hungry for the food to be slow. My date and I spent much more time there than we thought. There was plenty of time between the ordering of the appetizers, the food coming out and our entrees took a while too. It was very slow moving, even when it looked like the servers were whizzing around.

Not only did the food take a while to come out, but it was not practical or very attractive. I noticed so many people taking home leftovers. The portions of the entrees felt really large, because with each entrée you are offered the option of any of the sides. This is a way that restaurants lose money, especially if the menu items have low price points (two meals for the price of one…good for us but not for them). The presentation of the dishes were not really visually appealing, even when the ingredients and the kind of traditional cuisine could have been presented in a much more inspiring way.

I ordered the shrimp mofongo, mostly because of the rave reviews on yelp. It was pretty delicious, but the mashed green plantains overwhelmed the meaty shrimp. There could have been more shrimp to balance all the starch and the flavorful red sauce. I enjoyed the texture of the plantains and their heaviness, but it was too much. The shrimp were well cooked and large and meaty, but there were too few. My date had the tilapia with mango salsa. This dish was very straightforward but also a lot of food; large pieces of fish lightly breaded smothered with a pico de gallo spattered with fresh sweet mango. It was delicious, but really easy and dependent on cilantro.

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Even though the food tasted good, it was heavy in unnecessary ways. We were given grease drenched garlic toast, delicious and tempting, but mildly difficult to eat. Also the cod cakes, flat contrary to some we have had in the past, were heavy with grease from being fried. We both reasoned that there could have been a way to eliminate some of the excess to make them more enjoyable.

ME Casa is a relatively new establishment testing its boundaries and the lay of the land, from patrons to portions, and adjusting to the demands. Maybe it was just that one Saturday night that threw them for a loop, not the typical order of things, but the disorganization and the grueling waiting did not give me a great first impression. The close and cozy atmosphere is inviting enough to return to, and the food and the prices are just fine for an easy night out. I really hope that ME Casa is able to iron out the wrinkles in service and efficiency to make it a truly successful and welcomed addition to the community.

RER

3.10.13

RER 3.9.13

 

FoodFacts: PLANTAINS

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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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.

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

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[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”

[15] Nutritiondata.self.com “Plaintains”

[16] Margaret L. Ahlborn, “Plantain” http://www.herballegacy.com