Plantains

1. Plantains One of the most important crops of the island

2. The Demand… • Even though the plantain is one of the most important and most produced crop the demand is so high that they still have to import them from the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.

3. Bananas vs. Plantains • Bananas are most often eaten raw, while plantains usually require cooking • Unlike bananas plantains are used either when they are overripe. vs.

4. Plantain Flowers • Each stem of a plantain plant will flower only once, and all the flowers grow at the end of its shoot in a large bunch consisting of multiple hands with individual fruits. Only the first few hands will become fruits. • In other countries the flowers that did not produce a fruit are used in salads.

5. Plantain Leaves • They are similar to banana leaves but are larger and stronger, thus reducing waste in cooking • They can be roasted over an open fire and eaten in some countries • A traditional meals are served on a plantain leaf.

6. Plantain Shots • 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. This dish is called Posola.

7. Steamed, boiled, grilled, baked, or fried • In some counties the plantain is either fried or boiled and then added to a soup • The boiled plantain can be mixed with groundnut paste, pepper, onion and palm oil to make "eto" which is eaten with avocado pear • In the US the plantain is mostly grilled.

8. As a Fruit • Steam-cooked plantains are considered a nutritious food for infants and the elderly. • Plantains can be used for cooking at any stage of ripeness, and very ripe plantain are the only ones that can be eaten raw. • As the plantain ripens, it becomes sweeter and its color changes from green to yellow to black, just like the banana

9. Dried flour • Plantains are also dried and ground into flour; banana meal forms an important foodstuff,

10. As a Drink • They can be brewed or mixed into an alcoholic beverage

11. There are many dishes that contain this fruit • Yo-Yo • Alcapurria • Relleno de Maduros • Boli • Plantain Chips

12. Yo-Yo • A traditional dish made of two short slices of fried ripened plantain placed on top of each other with local soft white cheese in the middle (in a sandwich-like fashion) and held together with toothpicks. The arrangement is dipped in beaten eggs and fried again until the cheese melts and the yo-yo acquires a deep golden color. They are served as sides or entrees.

13. Alcapurria • A type of savory Puerto Rican fritter. • The plantains and tubers are mashed into a masa (dough) that is used to encase a filling of ground meat , which are then deep fried.

14. Relleno de Maduros • A traditional Puerto Rican dish that's also seen in Dominican cuisine, similar to lasagna but uses sweet plantains to replace the pasta. The dish in English is known as Puerto Rican lasagna

15. Boli • The plantain is usually barbecued/grilled and served with roasted fish, ground peanuts and a hot palm oil sauce

16. Plantain Chips • Is just like a banana chip but it is made from dehydrated plantains.