A Quick Ting On: Plantain (eBook)

PREFACE

And with that. Hi and let me welcome you to the world’s first, most dedicated love letter to one of Mother Nature’s greatest gifts. In fact, this entire work framed as a book for you is in reality one long consolidated page of my diary. A testament to the fruit that has kept me going all these years. Manifested in 100+ pages of Plantain-powered word vomit. Still, I invite you to stick around. Because if you like Plantain, love Plantain, don’t know Plantain, never heard of Plantain and all the above, this book is for you. And even if you don’t like Plantain (red flag). Give this book a try and I promise you’ll have a newfound appreciation for the world’s greatest fruit. Yes, I claim it.

In this book, if that’s what we’re calling it, we won’t be holding an inquiry or debate about how great Plantain is. That’s an undeniable truth. Plantain’s value as a culinary treasure is verified. Bluetick status and all. Instead, this book focuses on the story of Plantain that we rarely get the chance to hear. The ‘Whys’, ‘Hows’ and ‘Whos’ that make the fruit what it is.

This book is the story of Plantain, written by a true and dear Plantain-lover.

So boom. Wag1. My name is Rui. Rui Da Silva. No, not the white Portuguese DJ that appears when you search my name on Google. Rui Da Silva, the third of his name, named after my father, named after his father. I was born in Portugal. My parents brought me to Babylon, England, when I was three. We moved into a small estate in North London and I have been galavanting in and around the city ever since.

From the moment I could walk, I have been testing the limits of my decision-making. It started with scraping my bare knees on floors, leaving storytelling scars. It soon turned into jumping off roofs. Flying off of swings, landing face first. Graffiting on school walls. Playing 5 Alive*, run-outs** and knock down-ginger*** way past my curfew. Searching far and wide for the steepest and scariest hill to ride my only pedal bike down. Breaking bones. Breaking locks. Breaking laws. Securing whines****. Running from the police. Sleeping outside. Travelling across borders with no money. Performing on stages with a broken laptop and the list goes on.

The things I’ve done in my life have been, in one way or another, in search of one thing—happiness. We all have this in common. Our eternal search for the ‘ahh life is good’ moment. We work hard for it and when we finally get it, it leaves as fast as it came. It slips through our fingers and we look for the cheapest or most expensive way to get it back. The best moments, though, are the ones you know you can get back. The ones you can rely on tomorrow as you did today. As you’re reading this you’re likely trying to think about what your thing is. As you think, let me tell you mine. If it isn’t already obvious.

Drum roll, please.

PLANTAIN!

For me, Plantain is the gift that keeps on giving. There is dizzy joy in every bite that leaves me coming back for more. Plantain to me (and many like me) is one of the most underrated modern-day cultural artefacts of the world. A boastful claim I know. But beyond its delectable culinary appeal, Plantain also has a wider social value. Its value as a source of global sustenance, celebration and other things, scores much higher than its price tag. In many ways, the fruit is also like a dot. A cultural indicator if you’d like. Connecting transatlantic histories of Afro-Caribbean people in the heart of Babylon. To explain. Food, like art, like music, can tell us stories about the communities they come from. When we look at how communities consume their food, how do they create it, and why, we uncover deeper stories about who these communities are, their histories, so on and so forth. Plantain is no different. Using Plantain, you can trace stories of communities in almost every crevice of the world, highlighting its diversity and its resourcefulness, globally. So when I say Plantain is the 13th Wonder of the World, you may laugh, but by the time you are through with this book, you too will understand the magical beauty that is Plantain.

Before I go into the Plantain of it all, let me start by telling you how this book even came about.

So, some years ago, for my 22nd or 23rd birthday, a good friend of mine decided to treat me to a surprise birthday dinner and with that, a promise of a gift. A gift, I should add, that she was confident I would love. At this point, alarm bells started ringing.

Generally speaking, I don’t expect birthday gifts from anyone outside the family. For one, my birthday is on the 22nd December. Amidst Christmas shopping hype and with Boxing Day and New Year’s in the same period, everyone’s funds are low or going elsewhere. Adding to that, receiving presents is a risky game. There’s always a possibility that I’ll be looking at what’s in my hands and wondering, ‘why?’, wearing a counterfeit smile to boot. Don’t worry, if you’re reading this, I absolutely loved what you got me.

So the closer to the time, my curiosity for what she had gotten had grown. What was it? Why was she so sure I would like it? How should I prep my counterfeit smile?

We met up at a fancy-ish location. Somewhere off Shoreditch High Street station. So not that fancy. We walked past whatever the contemporary word for hipsters is. The whole time I suppressed my curiosity to ask what she had gotten me. I stayed patient.

When we reached the restaurant, the lights inside were dim. The decor was reminiscent of what I imagine a Southeast Asian museum would look like. We were both donning full tracksuits. My friend was in Adidas while I was in a Nike ting and if I remember correctly we also arrived a little late. A little late meaning the kitchen was closing and hardly any other customers were around. Quite typical for both of us.

We sat down and ordered, but I wasn’t eating much. My friend asked me whether I liked the food, knowing I eat twice as much as her.

The food was alright but something was eating at me instead. The curiosity for what my birthday gift might have been finally reached its peak.

As I was readying to thank her for the dinner, she reached into her bag and with a sly smile revealed what she had gotten me. What I had been waiting for the whole time.

From her bag, she pulled what looked like wrapped, bendy ornaments. For the first second or so I was confused. But as soon as I saw the full shape of the gift wrapping, I knew exactly what it was. The day was never to be forgotten. It was a gift that holds a special place in our friendship and the reason you’re reading this book.

To get straight to the point, for my 22nd, or 23rd birthday, my good good friend bought me Plantain. Gift-wrapped.

And that’s where this book starts. Over the years. My pronounced fondness for Plantain has far outweighed my enthusiasm for anything else. Have you ever seen the video of the kid who gets an avocado for Christmas and beams? Search ‘Boy gets Avocado for Christmas’ on YouTube, the video is currently at over 1.2million views. That is me but with Plantain.

I don’t know why my zeal for Plantain is as strong as it is. It conquers my usual tendency to be reserved or ambivalent about any and everything else. I claim my love of Plantain with all my chest and clarity of speech. Chances are if you’ve got to know me well over the years, you’ve heard me comment on how wonderful Plantain is. For me, there’s a quality of certainty when it comes to Plantain that cannot be shaken. It cannot be questioned and it cannot be corrupted. You know how grass is green. The sky is blue and roses are red. Well, in that same vein, Plantain is Plantain. Which is to say, Plantain is the best!

My love for Plantain was the catalyst for my friend getting me the fruit as my birthday gift. It was also what led to this book. To explain, this same friend of mine is a publisher. A brilliant one at that. One day she sent me a WhatsApp message saying, ‘would you like to write a book on Plantain?’. The thought of it made me laugh and I responded by entertaining the idea as if it were a joke. Until I realised she was being dead serious. Next thing you know, I am looking at editorial deadlines and word counts. She might have banged juj*.

As it goes, she introduced me to her idea for her A Quick Ting On series and more importantly A Quick Ting On: Plantain. Now, here we are.

So thank you, Maggy, my good sis and publisher for making this happen. She’s great. And if you end up enjoying what I have to say in this book, you can thank Magdalene. You can thank your delivery driver who brought you the parcel. The cashier of the book store if we aren’t in lockdown by the time you read this. But really and truly, we all ought to thank the greater good that made this all possible. The positive and motivating force within my life—Plantain. Thank you for being you.

There are many variations of the fruit’s name. Plænteæn for my West Africans (because God gave us wisdom). Plæntæn if you’re Caribbean, Plátano for our Latin American brethren and there are more.

Being part of the Black diaspora, I’ll be exploring Plantain from a Black British lens. Referring to the experiences of African and Caribbean Brits alike, both large and influential communities in the UK. Many of which have the fruit, sacred in the heart of their...