I had a conversation the other day with a fellow blogger and she stated to me that she thought my favorite food was Chuleta (Pork Chops) and I laughed because that so for from the truth. She had good reasoning too because if you follow me on Twitter you will know that when I get into my cooking sprees, I usually have chuleta with arroz con maiz (rice with corn). But, the one thing that I just love that seems to go with any Latino meal is Platano Maduros (sweet plantains).
Lord help me if maduros were ever to leave this world I do not know if i can find the same pleasure in life. Food means that much to me because I really feel it is the essence of our culture. I also feel that cooking is the one thing that I can do correctly. My dad taught me a lot of fundamentals of cooking and I figure that if I cannot speak the language the right way then perhaps I can get the food correct and pass that to any children I may have.
The reason I love maduros so much is the sweet taste and the rugged texture. The savory flavor is a welcome addition to any meal. With that said, there are meals that are bases around maduros that I have not mastered. There is a dish called pastalone or piñon. These dishes are to die for. I know as a kid someone made this and I am not sure who, but, my ex-wife's grandmother made this one day and I have not been the same since. I would compare this to a lasagna or a meat pie if you can imagine that. My ex wife has made a low fat version of this using turkey which is just as good.
I am not exactly sure when I fell in love with maduros because I know that I rarely had them when I was a kid. However, when I was living with my dad during my high school years, he used to make them frequently enough. My step mother would yell at me because I would eat so many of them and leave her with very little or nothing at all! (I am literally laughing as I write this...)
There was one thing that my dad used to do with maduros that would just make my entire night was that he would bake them. He would would wait until the platanos were ripe enough and peel them. Then he would take a knife a cut a slit right down the middle and add cheese....wow. I do not know what kind of cheese though and I know it wasn't sliced cheese either. I may have to ask him when I am done writing this what cheese he used. Anyway, I think that is when I fell in love with platanos maduros.
I make them as often as I can and now after writing this I am hungry...
2 comments:
Damn dude.. you're hitting all the topics close to my heart.. *puts on fat kid hat*
Yeah, that dish you mention, the maduro based lasagna style thing.. I think I've encountered it with a different name, but it is SO EFFING AWESOME!!!! OMFG..
Ok, I'm calm now.. Oh, and chances are, the cheese your dad used was Queso Tropical... I like to use Queso de Freir - either sliced right from the fridge with some maduros, or literally cut and fried in oil.. http://www.savoringrecipes.com/savoring_recipes/2009/06/cheese-for-frying-queso-de-freir.html
The saltiness of the cheese, plus the awesome texture of the slight crunch of the outside, and the firm 'bite' of the melted cheese inside, coupled with some maduros.. WOW..
This summer I've taken to throwing some maduros on the grill whenever I BBQ anything. They've gone over pretty well, and they super easy.. just slice the ends of the platano, and cut a slit down the platano from tip to tip, I usually do two slits opposite each other. I let the platano cook on the grill on top grate (lower, indirect heat) until the skin starts to curl up from the slits I cut. Don't worry if it starts foaming.. that's the sugars cooking... I then pull the skin off (now you see where slits come in handy, I just use the tongs) Once the skin is off, let the platano get some color on it.. depending on how sweet/ripe it was, it could end up getting messy.. But its still delicious..
*takes off fat kid hat, looks around nervously to see if anyone saw him*
Mmm yes! I grew up on maduros and I can't imagine life without them either. In case you ever decide to try making pastelon, another way to make it low-fat is to boil the maduros instead of frying them. It tastes just as good, I promise. Great, now I want some and I'm supposed to start fasting soon...
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