ottawa foodies

I am a big fan of their fried plantain as it reminds me of the style my grandfather used to make me as a kid. He was from the Caribbean.

When making them with Mom as a teen, I would often want to cook them prematurely and she would not let me. The BIG issue with buying plantain to cook is that it is usually no where near ready and you have to wait soooo long. Correction they usually have them unripe to use boiled and mashed as a sort of potato substitute. Stores rarely ever carry them ripe, let alone over ripe and useable. Tossing them into a paper bag will often help with the time frame but still its agony waiting till they are entirely black. Its a waiting game and most are not patient enough (myself included).

Chimichimi: my guess is that you have just had bad Caribbean fried plantain experiences (as have I). They are not waiting long enough to cook them or run out of stock and instead of keeping the standard and saying they are out, they choose to serve them before its time. So they are not ripe or sweet enough yet they are still cooking them. Grrrrrrrr.

On one of my visits here I asked why the plantains there were so good. I thought maybe it had to do with what they were fried in or seasoned with. Nope, the girl there told me very shyly not to cook them til they are black and disgusting looking. So now I keep them on the counter til they look fit for the compost bin and my daughters are thoroughly grossed out....then I cook them!

Might be worth mentioning, but fried plantain, Salvadoran style, is prepared with ripe plantains - very much UNLIKE Caribbean style fried plantain which is typically less sweet and more starchy/dry (ie. unripe, or less ripe plantain)...

best spicy fried plaintain you can find in an Ottawa restaurant...guaranteed.