Have you ever tried Plantain Jam?

Good day everyone, hope all is well. Today we will be making something sweet and yummy from an ingredient that I am almost pretty sure not everyone likes. Everyone loves the banana correct? But what about its cousin the Plantain? I feel like in the Caribbean you only see Plantains used one way and that’s sliced and fried. It’s almost as if people don’t want to explore. The Spanish are the only other ones I know of that do something a little different and that’s just smashing the plantain when it’s fried (Tostones). So here is how the story goes.

I had these two Plantains on my kitchen table just changing color almost every day until I decided to do something with them before they went bad. I picked them up, looked at them, felt how soft or hard it was, brainstormed and decided I am going to make Plantain jam. Huh? Plantain Jam? Yes, Plantain Jam. It would make perfect sense as its sweet as it is already. Now I went ahead and made this jam, it took about an hour but it was fine because I was in no rush. Plantains are nice but I find they lack a little kick, I find that it’s a subtle flavor that’s almost overpowered by sweetness. I’m not sure if you understand where I am coming from but hear me out. I added lemon to it because usually when u make a jam u add an acid to balance the sweetness. I chose a lemon because I felt it was the right ingredient that would have given the Plantain that “oh!” taste to it.

My Plantains had a lot of black spots on it. It was so ripe that when I cut it the skin was almost paper thin on the inside which made it a pain to peel but it was worth the little extra labor. I found that if you cut the Plantains in half horizontally (please, don’t go slicing down the Plantain vertically) helped and then instead of peeling it like a banana. If you run four slices down the side and peel sides left to right instead of peeling down it should be a little easier.\

This is the recipe, now everyone please remember that not all fruits yield the same product. Your Plantain may not be as sweet as mine, always taste and adjust.

1 Cup White sugar

2 Large Ripe Plantain

½ lemon juice

1 lemon zest

3 tbsp Water

2 Lime Leaves

Peel your Plantains and give them a rough chop and put them in your pot along with your white sugar and all other ingredients. Now put the heat on low and just let it cook. Also, please stir your jam occasionally. This isn’t a fast process, it’s something that has to take time. If you rush this, the sugars will caramelize and probably burn. Taste it, can you taste the lemon? Is it subtle? Can you taste the Plantains? Do you understand what I mean with the kick now? I hope everyone enjoyed the recipe. Please try it and let me know how it taste.