Fresh and Green Plantains

Description/Taste

Green plantains are distinguished by their age. They are simply the younger immature stage of the fruit. Their peel is thin and they have a very firm and starchy textured, lean-flavored flesh due to their very low sugar content. As plantains ripen, they develop a sweet taste and their color changes from green to yellow to black.

Seasons/Availability

Plantains are available year-round.

Current Facts

Plantains are botanically classified as Musa paradisiaca. Plantains are a staple food in tropical regions and are considered a cooking banana. Plantains are the tenth most important staple that feeds the world, sustaining large populations across the globe.

Nutritional Value

Plantains are considered a super food. They have more than twenty times the amount of vitamin A, about three times the vitamin C, double the magnesium, and almost twice the potassium as the common banana.

Applications

The Green plantain must be cooked to be truly edible. They can be fried, boiled, baked, pickled and grilled. Since green plantains are very hard and starchy, they are often prepared like potatoes. Green plantains, in fact are the chosen plantain for fried plantain chips. Green plantains are essentially treated as and substituted for potatoes. Thus, they can be used in recipes calling for potatoes and utilized alongside ingredients in which potatoes compliment. Pair with savory herbs, garlic, pork, poultry, both rich and mild cheese, other starchy vegetables such as corn and shelling beans, tropical fruits, cream, chiles, cumin and curry.

Ethnic/Cultural Info

Plantains have a long and rich history. Alexander the Great found plantains in Pakistan in 327 B.C. Pliny the Elder referred to them as “the fruit of the wise”. Plantains were first domesticated in Papua New Guinea anywhere from 5000 – 8000 B.C. As global trade expanded, plantains found themselves in China in 200 A.D and had reached Africa by the 6th century. Native to India, plantains are now grown commercially in the Caribbean Central Africa, West Africa and Florida.