WHERE IS PLANTAIN FROM ?
in conversation with TwosSaints
OUR COMMUNITY...
30%
SAID FROM THE CARRIBEAN
65%
SAID FROM AFRICA
5%
ASKED WHAT'S PLANTAIN, IT'S PLANTIN (LOL)
DID YOU KNOW....
Plantain is from Africa or the carribean…that is actually what the assumption is for many people.
Why, I hear you whisper well because it’s meant to be the black diaspora that cooks it the most.
But what are the actual evidence of that. Where is it actually from historically and factually?
South east asia, yes you heard it correctly.
If you don’t believe me, we had to sit down with the TwosSaints duo, Kimhia & Indira. Sisters by day and together run a language and cultural art company.
WHAT DID THE EXPERT HAD TO SAY...
We sat down with the fiery duo part of our “Making Plantains With..” video series to not just eat their world renown Pastellon but to learn about the origin of plantains.
plantain can be traced to as early as 500 B.C. It is of South East Asian origin, mostly in Malaysia and the now Indonesia.
At about 327 B.C. Alexander the Great introduced it into Europe.
Plantain found its way into Madagascar from Malaysia and India through trading Asian merchants and by Arabs during the Trans-Saharan trade boom.
The history of banana and plantain in the Caribbean has also been traced to the activities of the Portuguese Franciscan Monk who introduced it to the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo in the 1516.
TwosSaints
You can see the full video on our instagram here
HAVE YOUR SAY....
Got your own plantain story? Share it with us—we’d love to hear it.
Better yet, submit your favourite plantain recipe to our Griot Kitchen Recipe Vault and be part of the living history of this global fruit.