Plantains

The versatile plantain is a type of banana used much like a potato when starchy and green or as a sweet side dish when fully ripe and black. Unlike our familiar breakfast fruit, they are always cooked.

Preparing: Plantains require a special peeling technique. Begin by cutting off both tips of the fruit; then cut the plantain crosswise into several sections, unless the recipe directs otherwise. Make three vertical slits in the skin of each section, then peel off each piece of the skin. Trim any remaining skin from the plantain with a paring knife.

Best cooking methods: sautéing, pan-frying, deep-frying (green plantains); sautéing, braising, stewing, roasting, grilling (black ripe plantains)

When are they done? When golden brown and slightly tender (green plantains); when caramelized and very soft (ripe plantains)

Other vegetables you can use: potato, yucca, boniato, taro, sweet potato, yam, green to green-yellow bananas, as long as they’re not too ripe (for starchy green plantains); ripe bananas (for ripe plantains)