More on “Patacones” or “Tostones”
Here is an excerpt from a short article in the November, 2007 Food & Wine magazine. Page 48. Warren Schwartz posted this Chef Dispatch from Nicaragua.
Chef Warren Schwartz of Whist at the Viceroy Santa Monica hotel in Los Angeles is such a travel fanatic that he has a separate menu, “Warren’s Culinary Journal,” to showcase his finds. Here he reports on a trip to Nicaragua: “Now that Costa Rica is so expensive, Nicaragua is the new frontier. I was in Las Salinas on a surf trip; the food was plain, but its simplicity made it exciting. Tostones (fried plantains) are served everywhere. They’re like a cross between a banana and a potato. I’m going to serve them just like they did at our hotel, La Gran Francia, in Granada (doubles from $105; 011-505-552-6000 or lagranfrancia.com): with fried fresh cheese, diced tomatoes and onions and hot sauce……”
November 20th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
I’m hooked on patacones also, having first tried them at the Canopy Tower in Panama. Since that first trip to Panama, I bought two plantain presses, one for flat patacones and the other one to make little baskets. A fun thing to serve with the little baskets is cerviche, which turns this seafood soup into a ‘finger food’. They are also great served with warmed salsa.
I agree with Chef Schwartz that Costa Rica has gotten expensive, but I highly recommend Panama.