Plantain ‘the cooking banana’
Plantain, also known as cooking banana, is a banana which is used in many african dishes (especially west-african). There are many different how to prepare them and therefore there are many plantain recipes. The difference between plantain and a regular banana is that the first is not consumed raw and has a thicker skin. 
they contain more starch and less sugar then normal banana’s and are therefore cooked or fried to eat it as a snack or as a staple food in any african dish. Depending on the dish one can cook or frie the plantain when its both in its green or yellow stade. They are used as a staple food in many west-african and some caribean countries and are frequently combined with spicy foods. the color of the plantain tells how ripe it is and also how sweet they taste.
to fry or cook to the plantain?
Green plantain is mostly not that sweet yet and are there fore cooked and used as a staple food. When the plantain is yellow or even turning black it is the last stade of ripeness and when fried they caramalize which gives them a golden brown color. the skin of the plantain is mostly thicker than that of a normal banana and therefore one should use a knife to open the plantain. depending on the dish one can cut it into smaller or bigger pieces. To cook the (green) plantain one should cut it into bigger pieces, while to frie the (yellow) plantain one shouldcut it into small slices. To see how to use it in the different dishes check the recipes on this website.
plantain recipes
Some of the african dishes and recipes which use this product are: