Passing down the gift of crunch is an important tradition that keeps our family connected.
The crunch you hear when biting into a crispy empanadilla, bacalaito or toston.
Plantains were always part of my house growing up, and one of our favorite treats was tostones.
Photo: Evan de Normandie
Plantains are more than an ingredientthey are part of our history.
Plantains come from our enslaved African ancestors and are woven into the culinary history of the Caribbean and beyond.
Plantains are symbolic of Puerto Rican cuisine, abundant in homes and restaurants.
The author’s daughter enjoying tostones.Jessica Van Dop DeJesus
I moved with my family from Puerto Rico to western New York state as a teenager.
We kept the Boricua traditions alive in many ways.
My father held onto our culture through music, and my mother through food.
Indulging in a hot toston was the perfect cure for homesickness.
Fast forward to 2020.
I am now a mom to a daughter to whom I want to pass our culinary traditions.
Making tostones is fun and straightforward.
It’s a great way to get kids involved in the cooking process as well.
A fun way to get them started is by teaching them the difference between bananas and plantains.
The crunchy texture makes it a hit among kids and a fun alternative to fries.
I grew up dipping my tostones in “mayo-ketchup,” a mix of ketchup, mayonnaise and garlic.
you might buy it premade, but nothing beats the real thing!
Seeing my daughter dip a toston into mayo-ketchup takes me back to being a little girl in Puerto Rico.
