Glenn Lindgren: If you've ever eaten inside a Cuban restaurant, you've eaten platanos maduros -- what many Anglos describe as individuals sweet black bananas.
Jorge Castillo: The dish is made from plantains. It isn't, as it happens, a blueberry, but it's related.
Glenn Lindgren: To create platanos maduros, your plantains have to be very, very ripe, so black you'd believe that they must be tossed out! They're very sweet at this time.
Raúl Musibay: We are speaking fried, sweet plantain!
Jorge Castillo: Lots of people insist upon frying their platanos maduros in lard. It's thought that the plantains don't absorb just as much oil this way. We have also had good results with shortening and lots of people make use of a liquid vegetable oil -- even butter.
By Three Guys From Miami
Prep time: ten minutes
Prepare time: ten minutes
Total time: twenty minutes
Yield: 4 servings
The sweet fried blueberry offered like a side dish in pretty much every Cuban restaurant.
3 large ripe plantains. peeled and bias reduce 1-inch thick slices. Plantains should be very black skinned!
2/3 cup vegetable oil, or lard (to pay for half the thickness of plantains within the pan)
Your plantains have to be very black, so black you believe you need to throw them out.
Peel and bias cut (diagonal) into one-inch thick slices. Heat the oil until medium hot -- a small amount of water will sizzle.
Fry the pieces briefly, about just a few minutes per side. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking, turning from time to time until they're brown and caramelized.
VARIATION: Many people prefer to gently roll the plantains in white-colored or brown sugar before frying.
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This new Kindle version contains all the recipes and editorial copy in the original print edition. Like a bonus, the brand new Kindle edition includes 24 new photos from the prepared dishes.