Wednesday 16 Jan 2008: Plantain Flambee
I didn’t think I’m come up with a way to distill my Cuban experience (well, some of it) into one dish so quickly, but then it hit me. Plantain is a staple of African and Latin American food – and available in most urban grocery stores these days – and what represents Cuba better than Rum? So let’s marry the two…
Fry a thumbnail of ginger in a little oil, and then add a couple of sliced plantains. While they’re frying gently, mix half a tbsp of brown sugar with 75ml of dark rum (I decided to use Cap’n Morgan’s in this case, as the stockpile of Havana Club 7yo seemed a little wasteful). Pour this mixture over the frying plantains, taking a lot of care as it may well ignite itself, as it did in this case (if not, set it alight yourself, and step back). When the fire dies down, boil the remaining juice hard to coat the plantain, flipping them over a couple of of times, then slide them off onto a plate and consume!
Lovely.
The music here is Cuban reggaeton, which is all you hear everywhere on the island outside the folk clubs. It rules.
