MealMap #81

Green, unripe plantains boiled until tender, then mashed with a fork and a little of their cooking water until perfectly smooth, with no lumps. The mash itself is bland and starchy, so it is always crowned with pickled red onions — tangy, faintly sweet, and crunchy against the purée. It is the national breakfast, though it turns up at lunch and dinner too, and the classic plate adds a trio nicknamed "the three hits": fried white cheese, fried eggs, and thick slices of a soft, smoky, uncured local salami, both cheese and salami often dredged in flour first for a crisp edge. On the coast it comes with fried fish instead. It descends from the pounded-starch dishes carried across the Atlantic by enslaved Africans; one folk etymology has an occupying soldier tasting it and exclaiming "Man, good!"

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