Ecuador’s green plantain powers beloved breakfast dish tigrillo
7 reported
NPR correspondent Carrie Kahn reports from Ecuador on tigrillo, a hearty breakfast dish centered around raw, large green plantains boiled soft, mashed, and fried. The dish is a bestseller at Rosa Casa's family outdoor kitchen in front of Quito's Inaquito Market, where she has served it for 45 years. Casa adds eggs, cheese, seasoning, and fried pork rinds or bacon, though Quito food blogger Gabriela Valarezo says traditional tigrillo should be simple with good-quality ingredients. The name "tigrillo" means little tiger, referring to the green plantain's black spots and the dish's orangish hue with black flecks. Some 300 varieties of bananas are grown in Ecuador. Journalist and cook Santiago Rosero demonstrated a boiled preparation, mashing the softened plantain and stirring in eggs, fresh cheese, and starchy water for creaminess.
What’s reported
Tigrillo is a breakfast dish centered on raw, large green plantains boiled soft, mashed, and fried.
Rosa Casa has served Ecuadorian breakfast at her family's outdoor kitchen in front of Quito's Inaquito Market for 45 years.
Casa says tigrillo is her bestseller; she adds eggs, cheese, seasoning, and fried pork rinds or bacon.
Food blogger Gabriela Valarezo says traditional tigrillo should be simple with good-quality ingredients.
Tigrillo means "little tiger," referencing the green plantain's black spots and the dish's orangish hue with black flecks.
Some 300 varieties of bananas are grown in Ecuador.
Journalist and cook Santiago Rosero demonstrated a boiled preparation, mashing the plantain and stirring in eggs, fresh cheese, and starchy water.
Key figures
Rosa Casa, owner of family outdoor kitchen at Inaquito Market in Quito
Gabriela Valarezo, Quito food blogger
Santiago Rosero, journalist and cook
Carrie Kahn, NPR correspondent
Sources: NPR
