Plantain: A welcome burst of Jamaican sunshine

Simone Lawrence doesn’t need to hop on a plane for a taste of Jamaican sunshine. There’s reggae playing and a small army of cooks in the kitchen of her simple Danforth restaurant, Simone’s, ready to dish up island comfort foods such as fried plantain.

These giant, thick-skinned banana cousins are beloved in many countries, partly because they’re versatile at every stage of ripeness. Starchy green plantains are cooked like a potato and deep-fried into chips, while ripe plantains make sweet fritters and sides.

The problem with plantains is that they look downright scary when truly ripe. Yet the more battered and blackened the skin, the sweeter the cream, pink or pale yellow-coloured flesh inside.

Lawrence, a former interior decorator, still misses the fruity smell of plantain plucked right off the tree back home in Jamaica. Growing up, her favourite breakfast was fried ripe plantain and a fried egg sandwiched between slices of hard dough bread, or starchy green plantain grated into coconut milk then simmered to a thick porridge, featured on Simone’s menu.

“For breakfast or lunch, kids love plantain,” she says, bringing a just-boiled specimen to the table so I can savour its winter-chasing qualities — soft, fruity and comfortingly delicious.

As the plantain’s popularity grows, Lawrence has watched it migrate to mainstream stores and double in price, from 69 cents when she arrived a decade ago to $1.49 a pound or more.

If you’re heading south in the next month, enjoy this big banana in all its forms, then try it at home.

Buy & Store

Prep

Serve

Green

Yellow-black

With its creamy texture and light banana scent, yellow plantains can also be cut in half and boiled 10 to 15 minutes, skin-on, or even eaten raw.

Black

Ugly but ripe and sweet! Trim ends, slit lengthwise and bake 45 minutes at 350F (180C). Substitute for sweet potatoes. For dessert, sprinkle with melted butter, sugar and spice.

Baked Sweet Plantains

Sugar and spice enhance the natural sweetness of this adult-only dessert adapted from Chiquita. If you can’t find blackened plantains, leave them on the counter for a few days to ripen. Serve warm with ice cream.

4 very ripe plantains (skin should be mostly or all black)

1/4 cup (60 mL) butter

1/4 cup (60 mL) dark rum or milk

1/4 cup (60 mL) dark brown sugar

1 tbsp (15 mL) pumpkin pie spice*

Pinch of cayenne pepper, optional

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Peel plantains and slice in half lengthwise. Leave long or cut in half crosswise. Arrange cut-side up in a baking dish just large enough to hold them all.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and add rum (or milk if using), brown sugar, spice mix and cayenne, stirring until blended. Spoon half the mixture over plantains. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove cover, turn plantains over and baste with remaining butter and sugar mixture. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, 15 minutes more or until very soft and golden brown. Serve plantains warm with caramelized sugar and butter spooned over top.

Makes 4 servings.

*Pumpkin pie spice: 2 tsp (10 mL) ground cinnamon, ½ tsp (2 mL) ground ginger, ¼ tsp (1 mL) each ground nutmeg and ground cloves.