Plantain
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- This article is about the starchy banana. For the small herb, see Plantago
Plantains are hard, starchy bananas used for cooking, as contrasted with the soft, sweet varieties. 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 unripe. They are grown as far north as Florida, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Egypt, and southern Japan or Taiwan and as far south as KwaZulu-Natal and southern Brazil. It is assumed that the Portuguese Franciscan monks were responsible for the introduction of plantains to the Caribbean islands and other parts of the Americas. The Spaniards, who saw a similarity to the plane tree that grows in Spain, gave the plantain its Spanish name, platano.
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Plantain as food
Fruit
Ripe plantains can be eaten raw, or they can be used for cooking at any stage of ripeness. Green plantains are firm and starchy and resemble potatoes in flavor. Yellow plantains are still firm and starchy but slightly sweeter. Extremely ripe plantains are black, with a softer, deep yellow pulp that is much sweeter than the earlier stages of ripeness. These black plantains can be used in sweet dishes. Steam cooked plantains are considered a nutritious food for infants and the elderly.
Ripe Platain is used as food for infants at weaning: itis mashed with a pinch of salt and is believed to be more easily digestible than ripe banana
Dried flour
Plantains are also dried and ground into flour; banana meal forms an important foodstuff, with the following constituents: water 10.62, albuminoids 3.55, fat 1.15, carbohydrates 81.67 (more than 2/3 starch), fibre 1.15, phosphates 0.26, other salts, 1.60. The sugar is chiefly sucrose.
Drink
Plantain fruit can be brewed into an alcoholic drink. The rootstock which bears the leaves is soft and full of starch just before the flowering period, and it is sometimes used as food in Ethiopia; the young shoots of several species are cooked and eaten.
Chips
Image:Plantain chips.jpg After removing skin unripe fruit can be sliced (1 or 2 mm thick) and fried in boiling oil, to produce chips. This preparation of plantain is also known as 'tostones' or 'patacones' in some South American countries. In Cuba, these thinly sliced chips are referred to as 'mariquitas'. Chips fried in Coconut oil and sprinkled with salt is an important item in sadhya (a vegetarian feast) in the state of Kerala in India. The chips are typically labeled 'Plantain Chips' if they are made of green plantains that taste starchy like potato chips. If the chips are made from sweeter fruit, they are called 'Banana Chips'.
Maduros
After removing the skin, the ripened fruit can be sliced (3-4 cm thick) and pan fried in plantain oil and sprinkled with salt to produce Maduros. Maduros are a delicacy in Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In Western Nigeria fried sliced plantains are known as dodo.
Tajadas
In Venezuela, fried ripened plantain slices are known as "tajadas". They are customary in most typical meals, such as the Pabellón criollo. The host\waiter may also offer them as "barandas" (guard rails) in common slang - as the long slices are typically placed on the sides of a full dish, and therefore look as such. Some variations include adding honey or sugar and frying the slices in butter, to obtain a golden caramel; the result has a sweeter taste and a characteristic pleasant smell.
Plantain Flower
Plantain will flower only once, and all the flowers grow at the end of its shoot in separate bunches. Only the first few bunches will become fruits. Those that do not fruit are used for cooking, often chopped and fried with masala powder.
Plantain Leaves
Image:Lunch from Karnataka on a plantain leaf.jpg Traditionally plantain leaves are used like plates in several dishes, such as Venezuelan Hallacas, while serving South Indian Thali or during sadhya. They are also used to stimulate appetite as a fragrant smell is given off when hot food is placed on top of the leaf.
Plantain Shoot
The plantain will only fruit once. After harvesting the fruit, the plantain plant can be cut and the layers peeled (like an onion) to get a cylinder shaped soft shoot. This can be chopped and first steamed, then fried with masala powder, to make an excellent dish.
Tostones / Patacones
Tostones are twice-fried plantain patties. Plantains are sliced in 4-cm (1.5-in) long pieces and fried in oil. The segments are then removed and individually smashed down either by hand or with a tostonera to about half their original height. Finally, the pieces are fried again and then seasoned to taste, often with salt. In some South American countries, the name 'tostones' is used to describe this food when prepared at home and also plantain chips (mentioned above), which are typically purchased from a store. They are also known as "Patacones" in Colombia and Venezuela. Patacones may be served with sprinkled cheese, shredded meat and chopped salad on top, very much like a Mexican tostada.
Yo-Yo
In Venezuela, a yo-yo is a traditional dish made of two short slices of fried ripened plantain (see Tajadas) placed on top of each other with local soft white cheese in the middle (in a sandwich-like fashion) and held together with tooth picks. The arrangement is basked in beaten eggs and fried again, until the cheese melts and the yo-yo acquires a deep golden hue. They are served as sides or entries.
Chifles
Chifles is the Spanish Term used in Ecuador for fried green Plantains sliced (1 or 2 mm thick), it is also use to describe Plantain Chips which are sliced thinner.
External links
- Template:Cite web
- Botanical.com: Plantain Fruit
- Nutrition facts at nutritiondata.comnl:Bakbanaan