Plantain

Inspired by American Adobo In this 2001 film, a group of Filipino-American college friends get together to eat and share stories about their loves and lives. Their experiences of assimilating to American society vary, but all of the characters recognize their need for the comfort derived from friendship and familiar foods. For this dish, be sure your plaintains are completely black, since the fruit becomes sweeter as it ripens. (Yellow or mottled brown plantains are very starchy and usually take about a week to fully ripen.) Serve these fritters as a snackor pair them with ice cream for a delicious dessert.

Plantain Soup This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Sweet Plantains with Buttered Rum and Coconut Sauce

Fried Sweet Plantains

Mashed Plantains with Crispy Salt Pork The crisp pieces of salt pork-known in Cuba as chicharrónes-give this dish its distinctive flavor.

Plantains are a staple in Latino cuisine, but mangu, made with green plantains, is a Dominican specialty.

This recipe for chiles en macedonia combines ingredients from three states—Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacan. It came from the late Juan Diego Michel, who taught in Billy Cross's schools in Napa Valley and PuertoVallarta. The dish was a favorite of the Michel family in Jalisco, where, in his younger days, Juan Diego had his own restaurant and used the recipes from 200 years ago that had been passed down to him. To Cross, he was a Mexican-cooking mentor.

This is one of my all-time favorite sauces. It is excellent with grilled or roasted poultry or pork dishes. When I travel and cook at various events, I often include this on the menu. This recipe is a component of Tamarind Barbecued Duck with Smoky Plantain Crema .

At The Great House at Villa Madeleine in St. Croix, they often use a native fish called wahoo for this interesting dish, but swordfish is another nice choice. They also make the chutney with the very hot Scotch bonnet pepper. A serrano chili produces a slightly milder version.

Marinating the pork in citrus juices gives it a flavor that is perfectly complemented by the slightly spicy sauce. If you cannot find plantains, use ripe bananas.

Fried green plantains. When making tostones look for unripe plantains that are a deep shade of green: The recipe will not work with ripe plantains. Ideally, the plantains should be fried the day they are purchased, but they can be kept, wrapped well in a plastic bag and chilled, for 2 to 3 days.

Ripe plantains have peels that are almost completely black whereas the firm-ripe ones called for in this recipe are mottled black and yellow. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

No backyard barbecue is complete at the Rodriguez household without some of these plantains. Once you have tried them, you'll feel the same way. The important factor here is to choose plantains that are neither too green nor too ripe. Only the yellow and sweet but firm ones will do, the ones that are called "pinton."

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min