Learn how plantains became one of the world’s most popular staple foods. Whether you prefer them green, yellow, or black, boiled, baked, or fried, plantains are the fruit of the Caribbean. Yes, you got that right. Fruit!
Is plantain Caribbean or African?
Plantains are believed to have originated in Southeast Asia. Two groups of plantains are thought to have a common origin: the horn plantain and the French plantain. Both types grow in India, Africa, Egypt, and tropical America. The French plantains also occur in Indonesia and the islands of the Pacific.
Where is plantain originally from?
Southeast Asia
Like bananas, plantains are originally from Southeast Asia. However, they are now grown all over the world, including in India, Egypt, Indonesia, and tropical regions of the Americas. Plantains are usually larger and tougher than bananas, with much thicker skin.
Do Caribbeans eat plantains?
Platanos or plantains are cooking bananas. They are extremely popular in South America and the Caribbean. This easy plantain side dish adds a nice sweetness to any meal.
What nationality eats plantains?
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
In countries in Central America and the Caribbean, such as Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Jamaica, the plantain is either simply fried, boiled or made into plantain soup.
How did plantains get to Caribbean?
Spanish and African slave traders brought the fruit with them to the Caribbean on slave ships. Plantains proved to be a cheap and filling provision for enslaved men and women. The abundance of plantains and their versatility made them the staple ingredient that they are today.
Who brought plantain to Jamaica?
The Gros Michel is said to have been introduced to Jamaica by Jean Francois Pouyat, a French botanist and chemist who settled here in 1820. He brought the fruit back from Martinique to his coffee estate in an attempt perhaps to diversify his produce.
Is plantain native to Jamaica?
Jamaican plantains are native to India and are grown extensively in the tropics. They are susceptible to strong winds as they are a plant rather than a tree. Plantain plays an important role in the Jamaican cuisine, it is used as vegetable, source of carbohydrate and deserts.
Does plantain grow in Jamaica?
Banana and plantains are popular staples and fruits enjoyed by many Jamaican household. It is estimated that over ninety percent of all Jamaican family consume this fruit making this crop a very important crop to cultivate in terms of Jamaica’s national food security programme.
What culture cooks with plantains?
Plantain is cooked wherever plantains grow, from West Africa to East Africa as well as Central and South America and the Caribbean countries like Haiti to Cuba and in many parts of Southeast Asia, where fried snacks are widely popular. In Indonesia it is called gorengan.
Where do bananas originally come from?
Bananas originated in the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia. Today they are grown in tropical regions across the globe, from South and Central America to India, China and Africa.
Where did fried plantains come from?
This is also a common dish in Haiti, referred to as bannann peze, and throughout Central America, referred to as patacones in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, and as tostones in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico.
Kelewele.
| Type | Snack |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Ghana |
| Main ingredients | Plantains, spices |
Which country eats the most plantains?
The countries with the highest volumes of plantain consumption in 2019 were the Democratic Republic of the Congo (5.7M tonnes), Cameroon (5.2M tonnes), and Ghana (4.2M tonnes), together comprising 36% of global consumption.
When did plantains come to Africa?
Plantains may have been grown in eastern Africa as early as 3000 BCE, and in Madagascar by 1000 BCE. The plantain had certainly reached the African continent between 500 BCE and 500 CE.
Are plantains Mexican?
This cousin of the banana found its way from Asia to West Africa to Portugal, where Spanish missionary Friar Tomas de Berlanga transported it to Spain’s Canary Islands. By the 16th century, plantains were growing throughout Spanish territories in the New World, including Mexico.
Who brought bananas to the Caribbean?
Bananas were brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. The first banana shoot is thought to be planted in the islands of the Caribbean in 1516.
Who brought plantains to Africa?
It is said that In the 15th century plantains were found by Portuguese explorers in Western Africa and taken back to there home for planting. Portuguese explorers found bananas in western Africa and planted some back home.
Are plantains eaten in Africa?
In the West African country, plantain is considered one of the staple foods and a reliable source of starch for many as it can be boiled, fried, and roasted. It has many uses and many people enjoy it when roasted and eaten with peanuts.
What food did the African bring to the Caribbean?
The slaves’ diet consisted of a mix of traditional African foods brought over to the Caribbean (including okra, blackeyed peas, saltfish, ackee, mangos, kidney beans and rice), vegetables and fruits native to the Caribbean (such as papaya, yams, guavas and cassava).
What fruit is Jamaica known for?
Jamaica’s national fruit, the ackee is commonly used as the main ingredient in the island’s traditional food dish, ackee and saltfish.
What food did the Africans bring to Jamaica?
Benjie points as an example to the island’s produce, its yams and plantains, which were first brought from Africa to Jamaica during the days of slavery as fuel for enslaved Africans on the island’s plantations.