I made a batch of banana bread today, split into two small pans and with lots of roasted pecans in the batter and placed on top.

My ex is Puerto Rican (born there, moved away as a child, but lived in a PR neighborhood in NYC) so we have a number of dishes we make.

Plantain (platanos) have two stages - really green, or ripe and yellow. When they're green, we make the Puerto Rican dish of tostones - peel the banana, cut it into slices on the angle that are about an inch thick. In a shallow pan of oil gently sauté them for a few minutes then set them to drain on paper towels. Once they've cooled a little, put the heel of your hand on each slice and squash it until it's about a half-inch thick and it has lots of little rough edges sticking out. Place each of these in a bowl of salted water for a few minutes, then pat them dry and put them back in the oil to finish cooking. They are an equivalent of fried potatoes in how they are eaten and in their consistency.

Ripe platanos are peeled, patted with butter and wrapped in foil, then baked in a medium oven until it's soft. Cool it a little bit, then open the foil and sprinkle in cinnamon sugar. If you didn't put butter in when you baked it, then add it once it comes out of the oven, and follow with the cinnamon sugar when it's time to eat it as a dessert.

I was looking over the supply at a local Hispanic grocery one day and struck up a conversation with a woman who was originally Jamaican. She took the plantain from my hand and handed me a different one - pointing out the mottled pattern on the first one and said that wasn't a desirable fruit. I get some of my best cooking tips from other shoppers in the produce section.