Plantain ◊ Plátanos Maduros ◊ Tajadas ◊ Tostones ◊ Patacones ◊ Tachinos ◊ Yo-yo ◊ Chifles ◊ Mofongo ◊ Alcapurria ◊ Mangú ◊ Ipekere ◊ Dodo ◊ Boli

So, what are these Plaintain thingies? Did you know bannanas are types of plantains? Well, when asked her favorite food Lori definately mentioned them and since 90% of the class was clueless I thought it would be cool to dive into the world of "plantains."

Plantain is actually used in many parts of the world. Florida, the Carribean, Central and South American countries like Peru, Puerto Rico, Columbia and Brazil and even African countries like Egypt and Nigeria (thats how I know about it). It can be cooked (like Lori talked about) or eaten raw, like when we eat bananas. And as shown by the title, each place calls the way they cook their plantain something different.

In the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico mashed baked or fried plantain is mixed with garlic and pork, chicken, shrimp, or beef. The mixture is then made into balls and eaten worm with broth. Plantain is eaten in other places in South America also. For example, plátanos is eaten in ecuador, colombia, honduras, and venezuela. It is made by removing the skin, fried, and adding salt.

In Nigeria, plantain can be made into dodo or with the yoruba's call Ipekere. The Yoruba people are one of the major tribes in Nigeria. I myself am Igbo so we just eat dodo or plantain. We slice the plantain diagnolly into large oval slices and fry them in oil. Sometimes we bake the plantain instead of fry it and cut it into pieces about 1/4 the size of corn on the cob and eat it with a stew. Apparently another type of plantain dish is Boli, but I have never heard of it.

A popular treat of not only Lori, but MANY countries including puerto rico, nigeria, and jamaica are the plantain chips or banana chips. They are basically fried in its starchy unripened form until it is as hard as chips. It TASTES real good. But some people don't like it, because they are not used to unAmerican food. But thats OK, because I like anways.