What is this vegetable?

Question

I saw a cooking programme a while ago, and the chef used this bizarre vegetable which looked really intertesting.

It look exactly like a banana, aside from it was much longer and less curved. The difference was this version is a vegetable not a fruit - it was something to do with the starch not converting to sugar, so it could be used to cook meals with - apparently it was quite savoury?

I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but it looked interesting and I'd like to have a bash at using it - I think it's suited to more Carribean dishs, but I could be wrong.

If anyone knows the name of it I'd be in love with you.

Answer 1

The plantain (pronounced [ˈplænteɪn] or [ˈplæntɪn]) is a species of the genus Musa and is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana (which is sometimes called the dessert banana). The population of North America was first introduced to the banana plantain, and colloquially in the United States and Europe the term "banana" refers to that variety. The word "banana" is often used incorrectly to describe other plantain varieties as well, when in fact the generic name is "plantain" and the specific varieties are cooking plantain, banana plantain, bocadillo plantain (the little one), etc. All members of the genus Musa are indigenous to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, including the Malay Archipelago and northern Australia.

Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas and are used either when green or underripe (and therefore starchy) or overripe (and therefore sweet). Plantains are a staple food in the tropical regions of the world, treated in much the same way as potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when unripe. They are grown as far north as Florida, the Caribbean, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Egypt, and southern Japan or Taiwan and as far south as KwaZulu-Natal and southern Brazil. The largest exporter of plantains to the United States is Colombia. It is assumed that the Portuguese Franciscan friars were responsible for the introduction of plantains to the Caribbean islands and other parts of the Americas. The Spaniards, who saw a similarity to the plane tree that grows in Spain, gave the plantain its Spanish name, plátano.

I guess you're in love with me then friend for the correct answer.

Answer 2

A vegetable is the edible part of a plant that does not contain any seeds. If it contains seed then it is most likely a fruit.

Bananas have seeds, inside them are little black spotty things and those are seeds, so bananas are a fruit. Tomatoes also have seeds, inside them is little white seeds, so they are not a vegetable they are technically a fruit. Carrots however, they do not contain any seeds inside the carrot its self; carrots would be a vegetable.

That is how you tell the difference between a fruit and a vegetable.

What you seen however was probably a Plantain, which is a banana that is typically used for cooking. Since a Plantain is a banana it would be fruit. It is not a vegetable even though it is used for cooking.

Answer 3

The class of the tomato might properly be confusing. yet there are key issues to observe. it may certainly be seen a vegetable and a fruit on the comparable time reckoning on which context it is in. Scientifically, that's seen a fruit considering the shown fact that's certainly the ovary enclosed with seeds that got here from a arising flower. besides the undeniable fact that, through its culinary utilization, because of the fact it does not have the prevalent "candy" style of maximum different culmination, that's often categorised as a vegetable. that's maximum in many situations served with different vegetables fairly than with culmination or candy cakes. besides the undeniable fact that, some want employing the scientific definition whilst cooking, even with it no longer being arranged as a fruit. additionally, the U. S. superb court docket declared the tomato as a vegetable in basic terms on the undeniable fact that that's used maximum in many situations as a vegetable while it is composed of paying a tax below a tariff act. for this reason, some "vegetables" at the same time with cucumbers and squashes are additionally culmination in accordance to scientific definition.

Answer 4

Probably plantain; it's a different type of banana but more starchy and it needs to cooked, I never heard of anyone eating raw plantain.

I went to Jamaica once, and they also boil regular green bananas. It isn't sweet at all, it's also pretty starchy and eaten with salt and pepper like someone might eat boiled potatoes.

Answer 5

Plantain

Answer 6

The plantain

Answer 7

the vegetable you are puzzled about is a plantain,closely related to a banana,more starchy * less sweet it is cooked as a vegetable & fried into chips,when ripe ot van be eaten raw or cooked to make desserts.

Answer 8

It's a plantain. They definitely have a different taste.

Answer 9

sounds like a squash of some sort.... a plantain is a cooking banana

Answer 10

Plantain, they're a lot like bananas, except they're sweeter.