A Puerto Rican Feast in Guate
Last week while I was grocery shopping, I noted with glee that the plantains on sale were green. This weekend, a few were still green, and I bought them. These looked greener in the store. They were a tiny bit too ripe, actually. What’s the big deal with green plantains? Plantains are a staple of Guatemalan cuisine. However, here they sell and eat them exclusively ripe. I have seen nothing but bright yellow/black plantains in stores and at markets since I moved here. Ripe (yellow) plantains are great for making sweet fried plantains, which are very popular here. But to make my Puerto Rican favorites—namely mofongo and tostones—one needs green, unripe plantains. They need to be starchy (almost like a potato) rather than sweet. So, back to this past weekend. A plan formed in my head, and along with the plantains, I picked up red beans and mentally verified that at home I had Sazon, Sofrito, garlic, tomat...