Why Yes!!! Mexico is South of the Border.

I was explaining to the cashier, who appeared interested, how to cook plantain bananas or plátanos machos as they are called in Mexico.   "Are you from there?" she asked.  "I grew up there," I replied.  "Mexico... that's south from Arizona, isn't it?" she said somewhat hesitantly.  "Why YES!!!"  

Oh ... and by the way, plantains are a Favorite Food.  They are to me what "Chew Chips" are to Nicki -- and the point is that plantains should be sweet and chewey.

Mexicans eat them with rice as a course during dinner or with eggs and bacon in the morning.  But they are tricky to cook.  

The essential thing is to "open" the banana at the right time.  Too soon, and you might as well eat sour cardboard. There is nothing you can do to make it edible.  Too late and the stuff is gooey pablum.  The skin should be yellow (with no traces of green) and just acquiring black spots on about 25% or 30% of the skin.  

You can cut them into round disks or into 2 1/2 inch strips (in which case you have to cut off a bit of the outer curve).  

Some people bake them but to my taste they are best fried on moderate to lowish heat on a very thin sheen of oil. Too much oil and they are just a grease spunge, but wihthout any oil they burn on the outside before getting cooked on the inside.

When the banana is turning past ripe, it is better to 90% cook the whole of it (in segments), and then store the uneaten pieces in the refrigerator.  

I do eat humanely raised bacon, and huevos rancheros,with salsa, bacon and platanos machos is so satisfying i can get by with that alone for the whole day... save some ice cream at night. :))

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