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Business & Tech

P is for Plantains

Whipper Snapper offers succulent fried sweet plantains.

When it comes to sweet/savory succulence with tropical gloss, I can’t think of a dish more appetizing than fried sweet plantains with black beans and sour cream ($9).

Ripe plantains are already one of my favorite foods because they take the boneless custard joys of banana and amplify them into a vegetal place. Plantains have a richer, thicker texture bordered on bready, an almost honeyed sweetness, and an a chewy essence that shouts ‘plant food.’ Makes ’em more interesting than bananas.

Whipper Snapper’s chef/owner Bill Higgins maximizes all the complexities of ripe plantains with a Caribbean spin. Thick chunks are pan-sauteed until their natural sugars caramelize, giving the edges a chewy crispness almost like toffee. The plantains are bedded down over savory, meaty black beans in their own gravy. Thin rivulets of sour cream are drizzled over all, adding a light tang and contrasting color to this zesty combination.  

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 While these are a satisfying snack on their own, they become a stellar meal when I pair them with Whipper Snapper’s grilled all-natural chicken wings with guava habanero glaze (ask for the glaze on the side to control the heat quotient) and organic mixed green salad with coconut vinaigrette ($9) for refreshment and to cool the palate.

Eat this combination on the vibrant-colored restaurant’s surprisingly tropical back patio. It’s surrounded by palm fronds, yet is right on the West End of Fourth Street. It feels like an instant Caribbean vacation.

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 Whipper Snapper, 1613 Fourth St., is open for lunch Tuesday to Sunday and dinner nightly. Call 256-1818 or go to www.whipsnap.biz

Contact Leslie Harlib at lharlib@gmail.com

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