BY Led Black (@Led_Black)
This is a poem I conceived while I was at a resort in the Dominican Republic feverishly fiending for some Dominican food. It is only so much “international food” one can eat, especially when you are on Dominican soil.
It is a bit over the top with Shakespearian overtones but that is how I felt at the time. It is an excerpt from my upcoming book, DR Travelogue but I thought it would be a fitting verse in honor of the Platano Festival that takes place tomorrow and on Sunday at the Mirabal Sisters School Campus, 21 Jumel Place and 168th Street from 8 am to 6 pm. Word on the street is that they are planning on making the world’s biggest mangu. You might find me swimming in it.
I Love Platanos – An Ode to Platanos
Oh Platano, how we Dominicans love you
You are forever welcome at every Dominican table whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, entrée or dessert
You delight in all your incarnations; maduros, tostones, asado, mangu or mofongo
Can’t forget the pastellon or the platano con azucar or any of your many variations
I even had a fresh off the boat cousin who made Platano juice,
Umm umm umm, Delicioso
Your versatility never ceases to amaze
Oh Platano, how we Dominicans love you
You are the constant companion, the faithful friend of all Dominicans
Without you, rice, beans & meat is just rice, beans & meat
Who would eat Salchichon without your accompaniment?
You are the muse of all Dominicans mothers
Oh Platano, how we Dominicans love you
Woe be to those who refer to you as green Bananas
That borders on being racist
Bananas are bananas and platanos are platanos
I’m also not too fond of the term Plantain
Words tend to lose meaning when they become anglicized
Long Live Platanos!!!
We invite you to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter, or e-mail us at UptownCollective@gmail.com.
Are you a local business?
Uh I know that is a poem and all but “platanos” are indigenous to Southeast Asia where they speak Tagalog and Malay, and “plantain” has been in use since at least 1555.
Hey Js – thank for the correction and comment. I wonder what the word for mangu in Tagalog and Malay is. Do you know professor? Please enlighten us.
Mangu is a traditional Dominican dish so there probably isn’t a Tagalog or Malay word for it, in which case they would say “mangu.”
The point of my previous comment was not to diminish the the special place that platanos have in Dominican cooking and culture. It was to point out how the author, in putting down the term “plantain,” ignored hundreds of years of history to do so.
JS-
I thought your comment was relevant and interesting. I didn’t know that bit of history and I’m sure many people don’t.
Also, I have heard Jamaicans call platanos ‘green bananas,’ but i don’t think it ‘borders on being racist.’ I think that’s just what they call them.
To the author: don’t be insulted that people want to engage with your work. That’s not such a bad thing. It’s worse when no one has a peep to say about it, I think.
Hey Clyde – thanks for the comment. I wasn’t insulted that people wanted to engage with the work, I really appreciate that. My problem is with the tone that JS employed. He provided some useful info and I thanked him for that.
Also, the piece was a poem that I myself stated was over the top. It was an honest reflection of how I felt at a particular time during my trip to the Dominican Republic. Thanks again Clyde for your comment and feedback.
Led
tone is a tricky thing to decipher, i guess i heard him a little differently. i probably would have stopped short of calling him ‘professor,’ but maybe i mistook the tone of that comment too
thanks led!
You know what Clyde, I think you are right. I regretted my tone afterwards as well. I said it in jest but it could have been misconstrued. Thanks for the dialogue.
Led
no problem!