Original subtitles

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Looks like a banana, right? Well, look again.

It's a plantain. They're very common in Venezuelan cooking.

But the main difference is that you got to cook them

before you eat them or they're very heavy on your stomach.

♪

So, I just fried these for a couple of minutes

in vegetable oil. But I'm not done yet.

And now for the fun part,

I'm going to squish these plantains.

And I'm going to make tostones,

which are sort of a plantain chip.

I don't want to squish them too much

because if they go too thin,

they just get extra crispy on the second fry and too dry.

The cool part about plantains is, the riper they are,

the softer and sweeter they get.

Perfect, that's a really good thickness,

they'll go nice and crispy on the outside

and chewy on the inside.

♪

I use a very, very expensive tool to squish these plantains.

See this plate? 1200 bucks each.

Oh, man, this makes me so happy.

They look exactly how they should look.

For the second fry,

I want the oil to be a little bit extra hot.

This is just like making fries.

You want to flash fry them outside.

They're crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

This is ideal Venezuelan beach fare.

Sipping on beers, just hanging out, we eat them all the time.

Look at these tostones. They're perfectly golden.

They're crunchy on the outside.

My mom would be proud.

Look at the colour. Look at the texture.

These are just like the ones we eat at home.

This is the easiest snack that you've ever made.

They're nice and crispy.

I'm going to add a little bit of salt to finish them.

The trick is to eat them hot

because you want them very, very crispy.

And in Venezuela,

a common serving suggestion is with a little bit of slaw

and a little bit of salsa rosada,

which is basically mayo and ketchup.

And boom.

Mmm, just like home, it's crispy. It's chewy.

It's hot. You get the pink sauce.

You get the slaw, just like in the beaches in Venezuela.

Enjoy.

This is just the beginning of what we can do with plantains.

In Venezuela, we use them for many dishes,

just like pastel de chucho,

which is a plantain and fish lasagne.

♪

Plantains are very popular in Venezuela.

For tostones, I used plátanos verde, or green plantains.

They're tangier and harder.

But for our next dish, pastel de chucho,

I'm going to use ripe plantains.

They're a little bit softer. They're yellower on the outside.

And they have the perfect sweetness

for our Venezuelan lasagne.

So, this is a dish that is very common on the coast

or in the orient of Venezuela,

more particularly, in Margarita Island.

You can find the plantains.

And they do it with chucho,

which is a sort of a manta ray that lives on the coast.

But we're going to make it with any fish you can find.

And see?

I want my plantain nice and long, just like pasta noodles,

because I'm going to use it for my Venezuelan lasagne.

First step: I'm going to fry up the plantains.

All the sugars are going to caramelize.

And they're going to cook nice and golden.

♪

I don't want to cook them too much

because what I'm making is basically tajadas,

which is the ripe version of the fried plantain.

I just want the sugars to come out,

not too crispy, not too gooey.

See that? That's nice and golden, just like what we want.

♪

My tajadas are done, which is the sweet, ripe plantain.

And I'm ready to start my filling,

so, a little bit of olive oil,

then some onions, red pepper and garlic.

And these are just going to get sweeter and softer

as I cook them...

Perfect for our pastel de chucho.

In Venezuela, I would make pastel de chucho with chucho,

which is a species of fish

that lives in the shallow waters of Venezuela.

But here, I'm going to make it with halibut.

But first, I'm going to put it in this water bath

so it gently kind of boils.

Now I'm going to add some peppercorns

for that spicy bite,

and some bay leaves,

because I want this nice, nice and flavourful,

to add more flavour to the fish.

♪

So, I don't want it to overcook in the water

'cause I want all the flavours as well

to mix in with the vegetables that I've been cooking here.

♪

Oh, the smells, the garlic, the onion, the peppers

and the texture of the fish, it's just perfect for our dish.

Now that my fish is ready,

I'm going to start layering my lasagne.

Remember I told you that plantains are like noodles?

That's because I'm going to use them as lasagne sheets.

Little layer of plantains,

so sweet, so crispy,

now I'm ready for the fish.

The flavours are in the air. I can smell the garlic.

I can smell the pepper. Oh, this is going to be so good.

And in Venezuela, I would be using blackstrap molasses.

But I want to change things up a bit.

So, I'm going to add a little bit of sweet, local honey,

so many layers of sweetness.

I tell you, in Venezuela,

we like our stuff really, really sweet.

Now I just got to make more layers,

so, more plantain noodles.

♪

You can't have lasagne without cheese, man.

So, I'm using some queso Cotija

that you can find in the Latin supermarkets.

But you can also substitute it for mozzarella or feta cheese.

This cheese is going to melt right into our lasagne.

It's going to be delicious.

And to top this all off, I'm going to add some eggs.

I'm just going to whisk them together.

And it's going to do two things.

It's going to glue everything together.

And the second thing it's going to do,

it's going to go really brown and crispy

when it goes into the oven.

♪

Oh, man, look at this. The cheese is gooey.

The egg is crispy. I can smell the plantains.

I can smell the fish.

And just to top it all off,

I'm going to put a little bit of cilantro.

And I'm just going to dig in. Oh, look at that.

Flavours are in the air.

♪

Mmm.

Can taste the sweetness of the plantains, the fish,

the salt of the cheese, it's all there.

Next time you make a lasagne, make it with plantains.

You're going to impress your friends

at your next dinner party.

♪

Sometimes, the best dishes are the simplest ones.

And in my cuisine,

fish and plantains are very important.

And this recipe has both.

And it's called "Pescado frito con patacones".

And now for my fish, I'm using red snapper.

This one has been cleaned.

And I know it's really fresh because the eyes are very clear.

I love working with whole fish. The bone adds so much flavour.

♪

And now I'm going to kick it up a notch

with a little bit of marinade.

I'm going to add some garlic to boost up the flavour,

and now some limes for acidity,

oh, yeah, some pepper for the heat...

A little touch of olive oil,

and to bump up the lime flavour, a little bit of the zest.

It's just going to add to the acidity of the whole marinade.

A little bit of salt to just tie it all together.

♪

Yeah, just like that.

♪

This marinade is going to go so well with my fish.

But now I'm going to show you a little trick.

I'm going to make some cuts on the body of the fish.

So, the marinade is just going to suck right in,

straight to the bone.

Oh, so good,

the lime, the garlic, mmm.

I'm going to cook it with the skin to keep the flavours.

I got bone. I got marinade.

I got skin. And now I got flour.

And what the flour's going to do

is going to keep the skin extra crispy

'cause I'm going to fry it up in some oil.

♪

And when frying a whole fish,

I'm going to show you a little trick.

You want to put it in really slowly.

Otherwise, the oil is going to go everywhere.

And remember my tostones? The two-fried plantain chip?

I already fried them once.

I'm going to fry them a second time.

Plantains and pescado frito,

they're the perfect complement.

Just like in the beaches in Venezuela, man, I tell you.

Oh, man, this fish is getting nice and crispy,

golden brown on the outside.

The skin, it's going nice, nice and crispy.

We've got that flour. I can smell the garlic.

I can smell the limes.

The flesh inside is going to be extra juicy.

These tostones are perfectly done,

nice and crispy on the outside, golden brown,

chewy on the inside.

Ah, look at that fish.

Look at the skin, nice and toasty.

The flesh is really juicy inside. Mmm.

It's going to be perfect with our plantain chips,

tostones,

parguito frito con tostones.

♪

Mmm, so good,

just a simple salad, no fuss, the fish is really good.

But you've got to have the chips, man.

You got to have the plantains, just the perfect complement.

Pescado frito con patacones, it's my favourite.

♪

First, we made tostones with the green, unripe plantain.

Now I'm going to make a famous Venezuelan dessert,

torta bejarana.

I'm just going to use the plátano maduro,

which is the ripe version of the plantain.

And I had these guys boiling for a little bit,

just to make them nice and soft.

Generous on the butter, lots of sugar,

we love our sugar in Venezuela.

Cinnamon, touch of that...

(Laughing)

Now a little bit of allspice, mmm, yeah, smells so good,

put this stuff on everything too.

Pan molido, or breadcrumbs...

that's good,

then some sesame seeds.

And then the final touch: some queso llanero.

If you can't find queso llanero, you can use feta cheese--

It'll crumble really nice-- or even mozzarella cheese.

Be very generous with the cheese

because plantains and queso go very well together.

The sweetness of the plantains and the saltiness of the cheese,

mmm, just the perfect combination.

Can smell the allspice, the cinnamon.

I'm going to add a little bit of Sherry wine

just to make it torta borracha, or "Drunk cake".

In Venezuela,

we have fortified wine in our cupboards all the time.

We call it "Vino Sansón".

And it's good just to add

a little bit of flavour to our cakes

or just a little cup at the end of the day.

I'm going to add a little bit more breadcrumbs

just to thicken it up a little bit.

Yeah, that's good right there.

Just a little grease 'cause it's going to be easier

when the cake is done and I want to take it out.

Oh, this is perfect. Take this out.

See that? Perfect consistency.

I can smell the Sherry, the cinnamon, the allspice.

It smells like Christmas at home, man.

And the sweet, ripe plantains,

that's the secret weapon in the mix.

And this right here is ready for the oven.

♪

And now for the syrup.

Little bit of water,

allspice berries,

whole cloves,

reminds me of my dad.

Some cinnamon, very generous on the cinnamon...

some sugar...

Sherry in the cake, Sherry in the syrup.

♪

It seems like a lot of liquid right now.

But we're going to boil it down very slowly

until it's nice and sticky.

♪

And here, I'm going to show you a little trick.

The back of the spoon, cross your finger like that.

If it doesn't come together, it means that it's done.

All right, I think my cake's ready.

♪

Ah, this cake is ready.

It has filled the rooms with all of the flavours.

And now, for the finishing touches, remember that syrup?

I'm going to poke the cake

so the syrup sinks right in.

Look at that.

All the syrup goodness,

the clove, the cinnamon,

the brown sugar, the allspice,

it's all there.

So, now I'm going to wait for a couple minutes.

And this cake is going to be ready to eat.

I'm so excited. This cake is ready to flip.

Ah.

Look at that, perfect.

Now I'm going to cut it.

See that?

Ooey-gooey, it's going to be great.

And now, to top it all off:

some nice sesame seeds.

Mmm.

This is why plantains are so popular in Venezuela.

With the same plantain, savoury or sweet,

you can make hundreds of dishes.

So, next time you're at the market, make sure to grab one

because now you know what to make with them.

♪

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