So the "bananas" I bought have stayed green for a week now... And tonight before class I decided I would just eat a non-ripe banana. When I go to peel the "banana", the stem SNAPS off, not allowing me to peel said "banana". So, treating it as a normal banana, I decide to just try to peel it without the stem as an aid. Then a layer of fibrous material is peeled away, but still the banana is not peeled.
So I get a knife, of course....This is ONE TOUGH BANANA. I don't care though, because Im hungry and a banana is the "perfect fruit". I cut it open...but the skin wont peel away from the "banana" inside...so I cut it away...of course... Im determined to eat this banana, ripe or not.
I bite into the "banana". This is no banana. And don't even patronize me and say "it's a plantain". No. This was no plantain. This is some sort of cucumber/potato-ish vegatable disguised as a banana! How do I eat this? WHAT IS THIS!?
So I take it to class to ask the professor what this is... Because he is Grenadian. "Dat ees a Plugo" he says... "you cook it in soup or fry it up in a stew"...
But when I google Plugo... or anything like it (because let's face it, I may have not have heard him correctly), Google has nothing. And even when I search "vegetable that looks like a banana" Google insists that this is a plantain.
Like I said. This is no plantain...and That ain't no banana either.
I will give $10 EC to the person who correctly identifies the following vegatable, and gives me a method of preparation (with cited sources):
Dearest Leila,
ReplyDeleteAfter much searching through various scientific journals, it is highly possible that the word you heard was "Bluggoe" which is a popular genomic relative of the banana and plantain. It is used popularly for cooking/juice. You can reference it in this scientific article: http://www.biovisioneastafrica.com/publications/BIOLOGY%20OF%20BANANAS%20AND%20PLANTAINS-BZ%20Jul07.pdf
Also, here is a blog with how to cook bluggoe and it's status as a popular Grenadian dish: http://roundunvarnishedtale.blogspot.com/2008/10/grenada-cuisine-bluggoe.html
I'm bananas about you,
Neethi
NEETHI!!! you win $10EC or ....3.75 american. IM so proud of you and your committment to my adventure abroad.
ReplyDeleteMUCH LOVE!!!
Leila