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I have two but not really sure what to do with them - how ripe do they need to be? Does the skin need to be black?

I've eaten a lot of plantain in my life. Generally you peel it, wrap it back up in the leaves, steam it in a pot with some water in the bottom. Once its gone soft and yellow mash it up, serve with peanut sauce and a goat if you have one.

And no, skin doesn't need to be black.

Or slice it into circles, fry in hot oil and eat with salt and a bit of chilli pepper.

I flatten the slices between two boards and shallow fry.

Viva

The skin does need to be black, it def def needs to be ripe. There's 2 diff ways to slice it I prefer it sliced in round slices but on an angle. You need to add a good glug on veg oil in a frying pan heat it up then add to pan and turn individually till crispy all over.

It doesn't to be black. Blackening. Peel it. I like it sliced at an angle and then fried. And served with ackee and saltfish. I want some now.

It needs to be more black then not. Underripe plantain is awful.

I like mine with egg and beans, ackee/calallo and saltfish or curry chicken brown stew chicken.

I'm sure you can cook it when it's not ripe. I've only ever seen it cooked when green on the outside and quite hard/white on the inside. Steaming it softens it up. I always thought it was quite grim though, only slightly better than posho and that's not saying much.

Green banana is different then plantain. Goes luffly with mackeral and tomatoes.

Plantain is actually a carb.

Green on the outside and hard and white on the inside sounds like green bananas.

Ah maybe then, my old housekeeper said it was plantain <clueless>

She did the cooking.

Viva if you ever go to a Jamaican resturant, order plantain with your food. I can almost promise you'l love it. Only person I know in the whole wide world who doesn't like it is my mum.

It is heaven. I am so mean with it. I refuse to let fussy people near it. "I'll try it," they say. and then a lovely, squidgy sweet and savoury piece is left on their plates. Pah! Either eat it or let me have it.

I saw they sell it in morrisons now. Maybe I'll try a ripe one fried.

Mmm I really want some now, and festivals, festivals are the shit.

Festival? Is that bammy? Sort of cornmeal bun?

No sweet fried dumplins

Lovely. Sugar added to carbs. Deep fried, I hope.

Mmm yes and I can eat bags of them!

Oooh ... the nicest thing with plantain, slice it thickly on the diagonal and roll the slices in seasoned polenta, then fry them. They go all crunchy and crispy on the outside. Sooo good.

Oooh that sounds lush LRD. Polenta is cornmeal right?

<racks brains so I don't need to look in cupboard>

sweet fried dumplins - Is that doughnuts, then?

Garlic I can't ever make them but they are cornmeal, flour, sugar, cinnamon and water made into dumplins.

ineed - erm, I think so? It's that gritty pale-yellow stuff. It's great to roll on chicken thighs too, btw.

God, I'm starving now!

Yes it is I had to check. LRD you can porridge out of it with condensed milk water vanilla cinnamon and nutmeg. It's luffly really really luffly.

Ooh, that sounds delicious. Thank you!

They're heavier than doughnuts though. Really leaden in the stomach.

Ooh, Inneedofbrandy, I know what you mean! Yes, heavy and yes, yummy

... and thanks to that, I'm going to have to make some cinnamon pancakes

I really feel like proper comfort food now.

You can eat green plantains or make a porridge from them. Google tostones or patacones the south American way of frying green plantains, lovely with salt.

Thank you everyone for these lovely ideas

Right you bitches, I have to go to the market now.