Tostones, Bacalao and Maltas, oh my!

There is nothing like eating your favorite snack and when your Mom is the person cooking it for you they taste that much better. One of my favorite snacks is tostones. Tostones are fried green plantains. Plantains are a staple in most Caribbean countries. But it Dominican Republic it’s like the national symbol.

I went to visit my mom on a Wednesday night. I had not had dinner yet and I was starving. Of course after you get the bendicion (blessing) from your mom, the next question is “Comiste?” (Did you eat?). Then Mami goes on to list all the tasty leftovers that are in the fridge. Out of all them I picked “Bacalao Guisao” (Stewed Codfish) and she offered to fry up some tostones fresh!

Just watching my Mom expertly slice the top of the plantain, run the knife under the thick skin to separate it from the plantain reminds me of all the other times she has made this snack for me. It got me all nostalgic and homesick for everything Dominican. My mom can peel a plantain in a heartbeat. Her hands move in a quick and natural fashion as if the plantain were somehow part of her. I hope that someday I will peel them the same way she does. I think there is some magic in the knife she uses. It is an old, dull knife. It is the only one she uses to peel plantains and I know someday that knife will be mine and I will be able to peel them exactly like her.

I sit down to eat my oversized portion of bacalao and I complain (as I always do) that it is too much for me and she should take some out. She does not take any out and gives me the big bowl anyway and says “Cometelo!” (Eat it!), and gives me a knowing look. I sit down to my meal and the first bite is heaven! She sits with me to watch me eat, but not before getting me my favorite dinner drink, Malta Goya! I didn’t even have to ask her for it. She just KNOWS! That is why she keeps the famous 8 pack of Maltas in the fridge for my brother and me. She does not drink them…she gets them for her kids to enjoy (by the way..we are both over the age of 30!). We proceed to chat away about how she is feeling and how her day went. We talk a little politics and discuss her newest aches and pains. Overall it is an intimate mother/daughter dinner and we both enjoy it immensely. I eat everything that she has put in front of me. She knew I would eat it all.

Then its 7pm and she has to watch her novelas (Latino Soap Operas) and I know I can’t compete with that. So I give her a double kisses (one on each cheek), get the bendicion again, grab up the bag of groceries she wants me to take home and tell her I will talk to her the next day.

My mom, she loves her kids! Yes, she does! And we love her too.

Glossary
Plantains are a member of the banana family. They are a starchy, low in sugar variety that is cooked before serving as it is unsuitable raw. It is used in many savory dishes somewhat like a potato would be used and is very popular in Western Africa and the Caribbean countries.

Malta Goya - A rich, non-alcoholic, nutritious soft drink, brewed from the finest barley and hops. Both regular and light are available in a wide assortment of sizes.

Bacalao is the Spanish term for dried salt cod. The dried fish is white, delicate, and tender once it’s re-hydrated.

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