Southeast Asia.
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.
Is plantain Jamaican or African?
Plantains are more common in dishes in Central and South America and the Caribbean. They can also be found in the cuisine of African countries such as Ghana and Nigeria.
What country is known for plantain?
Cameroon is the world’s largest producer of plantains. The country exports approximately 4.31 million tons of plantains yearly. They are largely produced in the southern and western part of Cameroon. The fertile soils allow the plantains to grow well.
Are plantains 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.
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.
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.
When were plantains brought 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.
Which country has the most plantain?
The Rank of 10 World’s Biggest Plantain Producers
| Rank | Countries | Production of Plantains in 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| (Tonnes) | ||
| 1 | Uganda | 7,401,579 |
| 2 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 4,891,990 |
| 3 | Ghana | 4,667,999 |
Are bananas native to Africa?
Indeed, banana cultivation was the economic backbone of some African kingdoms that thrived before European colonization. Until recently, most African scholars assumed that the banana, which is native to New Guinea, was not introduced into Africa earlier than about 2000 years ago.
Which countries eat 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.
What are Jamaican bananas called?
The traditional varieties of bananas grown in Jamaica include Robusta, Williams (Ziv), Grand Nain, Lacatan, and Gros Michel.
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.
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.
Who brought plantains to America?
In truth, the plantain is an import that originated in Asia; traveled to Africa; and then made its way to the Americas in the 1500s, where enslaved Africans helped spread it across the region.
Who first discovered bananas?
In 327 BC, when Alexander The Great and his army invaded India, he discovered banana crop in the Indian Valleys. After tasting this unusual fruit for the first time, he introduced this new discovery to the Western world. By 200 AD bananas had spread to China.
What were bananas originally called?
Linnaeus originally placed bananas into two species based only on their uses as food: Musa sapientum for dessert bananas and Musa paradisiaca for plantains.
What did the Chinese bring to Jamaica?
Games of Chance – The Chinese brought their tradition of gambling with them and introduced games like “Whe Whe” and “Rakka Piu”, also known as “Chinapoo” to the island. The game of chance tradition was assimilated by Jamaicans who play modern games like “Cash Pot” and “Lucky Five.” 4.
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 Chinese bring to Jamaica?
“People don’t realize that rice and peas came from Chinese people who came to Jamaica,” says Fowles, who explains that rice was not a staple in Jamaica before Chinese immigrants arrived. Chinese cooking techniques transformed Jamaican cuisine, as well, introducing the island to quick sautés.
What came first banana or plantain?
“If the term ‘crop’ signifies a plant that can be grown for subsistence, then the plantain and the edible diploid bananas may indeed have been the first fruit crop.” It might be easiest, then, to begin—but not end—with the banana, whose origins are generally considered to be in Southeast Asia between 8000-5000 BCE.
When did bananas reach Africa?
They were brought west by Arab conquerors in 327 B.C. and moved from Asia Minor to Africa and finally carried to the New World by the first explorers and missionaries to the Caribbean. The mass production of bananas started in 1834 and really started exploding in the late 1880’s.