Author Archives: Karina

Hi Friends! Today we are going to learn how to cook the versatile green plantain, a staple of Dominican cooking, in three different ways.

Here in Miami, you may have seen green plantains at your local store. If you live elsewhere, you may have seen green plantains and done a double take thinking, why would anyone want to buy green bananas? Well, make sure you pick them up next time you are in the store and try these recipes. They are going to rock your world!

Green plantains have a firm and starchy texture when they are green and as they ripen their skin changes from green to yellow to black as their sugars concentrate and they become more sweet.

Plantains are considered a superfood due to their high vitamin content, including vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium (they actually have twice the amount of potassium than a regular banana).

I did a little research on the green plantain and found a couple of curious facts. Alexander the Great found plantains in Pakistan in 327 B.C. The Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder referred to them as “the fruit of the wise”. Plantains were first domesticated in Papua New Guinea from 5000 – 8000 B.C. As global trade expanded, plantains found themselves in China in 200 A.D and reached Africa by the 6th century. Native to India, plantains are now grown commercially in the Caribbean, Central Africa, West Africa and Florida.

For the first recipe of today, we are going to make Dominican Mangú, a dish of mashed plantains usually prepared for breakfast in the Dominincan Republic and served with fried eggs, salami, avocado, and even sardines. The next two recipes involve pressing and frying the plantains into crispy golden disks. Tostones are a heartier than mariquitas and are great served as a side dish to any cozy stew this fall. Mariquitas are totally addictive and great to serve when hosting or entertaining. Think of them as your Latin potato chip! You can serve them with your favorite green sauce (I have an avocado green sauce I shared on IG @latinfoodie), spinach dip or even tomato salsa. So yummy!

Hello friends! In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month which kicked off September 15, I will be cooking my favorite Dominican dishes. To start, I bring you Dominican Pollo Guisado which is in essence chicken fricassee, but with a Dominican twist, and one of the most beloved dishes in the D.R. I remember eating this growing up at least once a week and it always tasted so nourishing and flavorful, I loved having a big plate of it piled high on top of warm steamy white rice when I got home from school.

I try to make it often for my family and friends. And now I am excited to share it with you!

My love affair with France started at 17, after spending a summer in Paris at the Cite Universitaire with L’Alliance Francaise de Saint Domingue. I lived in a French dorm with my sister chaperoned by my mom, and had to wake up at 7 am every day to make it to French lessons. It was the first time I experienced common bathrooms and still remember the thin light blue curtains in the showers, the worn tiles on the floor. Each room was charmingly spare, with two twin beds, floor to ceiling windows that opened up to a tiny balcony, a couple of Vienna chairs.  We would walk to class each day, and then sit in classrooms filled with students from all over the world.

I don’t remember learning anything. What I do remember was the incredible sense of wonder at being in such a romantic place where I could barely speak the language, and yet felt so connected to the culture and the beautiful way the words seemed to escape the mouth of locals, as if hidden with every breath.

Then I returned to Paris during college doing my Junior Year abroad and fell even more deeply in love with the culture. I taught English at a polytechnic school, toured the Languedoc-Roussillon region in a cherry fiat with some of my students who became my best friends. Heck, I even had a declaration of love by a French boy with deep blue eyes who showed up at my studio apartment one day with a single yellow rose. It was the first time that I saw hashish (at a party, though I didn’t try it). I met a mysterious Indian stranger at a bar who introduced me to jasmine tea and independent French cinema. I ate baguette, brie and marmalade for breakfast every morning that I bought at the market downstairs. I would run along the Seine weaving in and out of people passed out along the banks of the river. I lived with an older widowed lady in a flat in front of the Musee d’Orsay who had an apartment filled with art and sculpture. She would send me to buy her cigarettes. She had red velvet curtains in her boudoir. She made coq-au-vin for dinner that we would wash down with glasses of Beaujolais.

The year before I left New York, I made a conscious decision to brush up on my French and signed up for weekly language lessons at L’Alliance Francaise. It was wonderful, dreamy and energizing to be surrounded by francophiles left and right (even though most of them were retired and well into their 60’s). I felt an instant kinship with each and every one of them. I am now on the hunt for my next frenchie fix, this time in my new city by the sea. To tide me over, here is a good list I found to some of MIami’s best French spots. I am proud to say I have been to nearly all.