This is a chapter from my sixth book called Alphabet Soup - A different kind of cook book
Today I woke up with a plan to write about plantain. Plain and simple, everybody loves plantain. No one complains about plantains. Anything bad you hear about plantain is mischief or should I say mischef by chefs who do not know better. I read that the name plantain comes from the Spanish word "plántano" and that probably comes from the Carib word "palatana" meaning banana. What do you call a plantain that goes to Maracas beach? Plantan. We all love a plantain with a good tan that is ready for the pan and frying. And if you are vegan you will probably want a bake and plantain rather than the usual bake and shark from Maracas. Plantain is good in soup and even on pizza. Moko is a variety of plantain that we also have in Trinidad. To me this is fatter and sweeter than normal plantain. I came across plantain roti online and I want to try this. One of the top recipes that shows up for me in Google search is from Riaz Phillips and he makes it look so yummy. He is a food writer and author from London inspired by his Caribbean family roots.
I asked my mom what she knows about plantain and one of the things she told me about is tom tom that is made with cooked half ripe plantains and pounded until soft in a mortar and pestle and then seasoned. It is also known as pong plantain in Trinidad. I saw some recipes online describing tum tum as Haitian style fufu. You can even make tum tum with breadfruit or green fig. I learnt that basically this dish is variations on fufu made with plantain that spread to some parts of the world. I learnt that tum tum comes from the sound the mortar and pestle makes when making this dish. It is called differently in different places, for example it is mofongo in Puerto Rico.
In my research I found a medicinal herb that shares the name with plantain. In botanical terms, "plantain" refers to plants in the Plantago genus, which are different from the "plantains" commonly found in cooking. The dwarf plantain or plantago is herbal medicine. I find it sort of looks like culantro or what we call in Trinidad shadon beni. And now for a proverb. Proverbs being medicine for our minds and hearts, offering wisdom and guidance to navigate life's challenges. I found two versions of this Jamaican proverb that says the same thing. Plantain ripe, can't green again (and plantain whe ripe can't green again). The second version sounds more Jamaican to me. This is similar to saying you can't unscramble an egg or what's done is done. In Spanish they say, "Lo hecho, hecho está". The proverb is used to emphasize the finality of a situation. It suggests that certain actions or decisions have irreversible consequences. I guess you could say that plantain teaches us to plan ting. We should think before we say or do. A reminder to be planting seeds of love always.
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