flipRipe Plantain Roasted in Embers
Ripe Plantain Roasted in Embers
Why this dish? Between Sakassou and Yamoussoukro, on the forest paths that lead from one world to another, you carry what you can cook on the spot: a very ripe plantain, slipped into the embers, eaten hot and sweet without plate or utensil. This is the road food that tradition ascribes to travelers and porters alike.
A plantain with skin almost black, placed whole in the embers until the skin blackens and the flesh caramelizes. You open it, blow on it, eat it from the skin: sweet, melting, fragrant. The simplest snack of the forest.
When the road is long, do not carry a pot: carry a very ripe plantain, the one with skin turning black. You make a bed of embers, you lay it down, you turn it once, and you wait until the skin cracks. Inside, the flesh has become honey without honey added. Eat it with your fingers, standing if need be — the forest feeds those who know how to walk.
- •Very ripe plantain — one per walker (whole snack)
- •Wood embers — a hearth (cooking)
Ripe Plantain Roasted in Embers
A plantain with skin almost black, placed whole in the embers until the skin blackens and the flesh caramelizes. You open it, blow on it, eat it from the skin: sweet, melting, fragrant. The simplest snack of the forest.
Why this dish? Between Sakassou and Yamoussoukro, on the forest paths that lead from one world to another, you carry what you can cook on the spot: a very ripe plantain, slipped into the embers, eaten hot and sweet without plate or utensil. This is the road food that tradition ascribes to travelers and porters alike.
When the road is long, do not carry a pot: carry a very ripe plantain, the one with skin turning black. You make a bed of embers, you lay it down, you turn it once, and you wait until the skin cracks. Inside, the flesh has become honey without honey added. Eat it with your fingers, standing if need be — the forest feeds those who know how to walk.
Ingredients (period version)
- Very ripe plantain — one per walker (whole snack)
- Wood embers — a hearth (cooking)
Ingredients
- Very ripe plantain (skin spotted black) — 2 (snack)
- Pinch of salt or drizzle of red palm oil — optional (flavor contrast)
Method
- Choose very ripe plantains, with blackened skin: this guarantees sweetness.
- Place them whole, unpeeled, on embers (barbecue) or on an oven rack at 220 °C.
- Cook for 20–25 minutes, turning halfway, until the skin is black and the flesh soft.
- Open the skin, let cool slightly, and enjoy plain, or with a pinch of salt / a drizzle of red palm oil for contrast.
How it was made : Cooking tubers and bananas directly under the ashes or on embers is one of the oldest techniques of the West African forest: no utensils, the skin serves as protective wrapping. Very ripe plantain develops its sugars with heat and turns into a naturally sweet snack, ideal for travel.
The contemporary twist : Split the roasted plantain in its skin, top with a few shards of grated kola nut or a pinch of grains of paradise for a 'chic street-food' version.
Akwa Boni · Charactorium
