Plátano

Plátano is, to a Czech, essentially a banana. An overgrown one, but still a banana. It is a related plant, it looks like a banana, but in Colombia the plantain is used in a completely different way. You will find it almost everywhere. It is part of most traditional dishes. In the kitchen it is treated more like a vegetable. It is never eaten raw. Usually it is cut into slices, fried, seasoned and served as a side to the main course. Other times it is cut into thin slices and dried.

It is exactly this combination of sweetish fruit, vegetables and meat that makes traditional Colombian dishes unforgettable.

Do not be surprised, and do not be alarmed, when a fried banana lands on your plate. It is not a banana, it is a plantain, and it is great.

Maduro and verde: one fruit, two dishes

Two plantains lie side by side in the shop, they look almost the same, and the difference between them is bigger than between a potato and an apple.

Verde is green and hard. It tastes neutral and starchy, like a raw potato, and it is used like a potato: flattened, fried twice, and turned into a patacón, a disc to go with meat, beans or fish.

Maduro is yellow to nearly black and soft. Its starch has turned to sugar, so it is sweet; it is fried in slices, baked whole with pieces of cheese, and dropped into soups and served with meat as a counterweight to the salt.

A Colombian confuses the two no more than we confuse plain and self raising flour. Buy a verde expecting something sweet and you will be disappointed, and the other way round.