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Pickled bananas are a traditional Puerto Rican dish. They consist of green bananas boiled with salt and marinated in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, onion, garlic, and spices. It's a simple recipe that can be enjoyed as an appetizer or as a side dish. 

In Puerto Rico, it's often served at family gatherings and celebrations. It's a staple at Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Day, and Three Kings' Day. 

The main ingredient in this recipe is green bananas, with no yellowing on the skin. That is, no signs of ripeness. The bananas should be firm to achieve the right texture. If you squeeze them and they feel soft, they're too ripe for this recipe. 

Peel the green bananas and boil them in salted water until tender but firm, about 15 to 20 minutes. Some chefs in Puerto Rico cook the bananas without peeling them. However, they do trim the ends as a strategy to prevent them from browning during cooking. Also, to prevent the bananas from browning during cooking, add a little milk or white vinegar to the water.

The escabeche is prepared like this:

1. In a pan, heat olive oil. Add a generous amount of sliced onions and sliced green, yellow, and red bell peppers. Sauté these ingredients until very tender.
2. Add bay leaves, crushed garlic, black peppercorns, and white vinegar.
3. Cook all ingredients over low to medium heat until the flavors blend, for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and let it sit, but don't let it cool, before adding them to the cooked bananas.
4. The ratio of olive oil to white vinegar should be 1 1/2 cups olive oil to 1 cup white vinegar. This mixture will result in a more vinegary dressing.

To marinate the green bananas, proceed as follows:

1. Once the bananas are cooked, cut them into slices or half-moons and place them in a container that can withstand high temperatures. Add the marinade to the bananas. Mix everything until all the bananas are well coated. Be careful not to break them.
2. When the mixture is at room temperature, place it in the refrigerator, tightly covered.
3. Bananas should be marinated in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours to fully absorb the flavors.
4. Refrigerated they can last up to seven days.

This dish is served at room temperature or cold. It is an excellent accompaniment to roast ham. 

Variations in preparing the escabeche

• Capers, pepper-stuffed olives, and oregano are added to enrich the flavor.
• Add finely chopped fresh cilantro or cilantro after mixing the escabeche and the bananas.
• Cooked chicken gizzards are added, creating a dish known as Guineítos con Mollejas en Escabeche (Guineítos with Pickled Gizzards). Other recipes add octopus or shrimp instead of gizzards.

This dish reflects the richness of Puerto Rican cuisine. In Puerto Rico, we transform simple ingredients into dishes full of flavor and tradition. Here's a video with a recipe for pickled bananas, Chef Piñero style.

Photo: Goya of Puerto Rico

Carmen M. Pérez Velázquez