Patecones

Patecones, pat-ay-cone-ays, are a typical South American side dish.  

They are made from plantain bananas which are not sweet like the bananas in regular Canadian supermarkets.  They are bought green and are used in this state; way before any North American common sense would tell you.  Removing the very tough peel, with some practice it's not so hard, exposes the sturdy plantain fruit.   Once cooked the fruit becomes soft and tastes sort of like a potato, so adding a little salt or some sauce helps to add some flavour.

I was shown how to make these early on in my stay here so I thought I would take on the challenge myself.  I was pretty happy with the result, aside from burning them a little they tasted really great.  We ate them with a little bit of curried chicken.  Anythings goes!

Cut plantain into thick pieces and
boil for a few minutes in 1" oil.

Take out of oil and let cool a bit
than SQUASH them.

Fry in a pan with a bit of oil
for a few minutes
and serve.