The first time I tasted Tostones (smashed and fried green plantains) at my friend's house, I had to learn how to make them.

The most popular plantain dish might be tostones, a fritter with a fry-like crunchy exterior and a fluffy, faintly sweet interior.

MIC Food is bringing cultures together through flavor with its 100% natural, frozen, ready-to-use tropical fruits and vegetables Company officials say its products can give the deli menu an authentic Latin-Caribbean flare with sweet plantain slices, tender and crunchy tostones or versatile yucca, just a few of the company's products designed to innovate retail deli offerings in order to satisfy customer demand for more authentic ethnic cuisine.

To introduce the spirits to guests, Cuba Libre's Happy Hour is called Caippy Hour, featuring $5 Caipirinhas and small-bite picadas such as empanadas, tostones and grilled baby octopus.

Frequencies of consumption were assessed in face-to-face interviews with the following question: "In the last 30 days, how many times a day, week, or month did you consume [...]?" The following food groups and food examples were provided: 1) fruits (fruit and fruit juices such as mango, orange, banana, apples, and grapes); 2) vegetables (tomato, broccoli, cabbage, cole crop vegetables, carrots, and corn); 3) plantains and tubers or starchy root vegetables (yautia, yam, and malanga); 4) fried foods (arepas, pastelillos, tostones, amarillos, fried fish, french fries, and fried meat); and 5) fast foods (foods purchased in multinational corporations such as Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Pollo Tropical, Subway, and Chili's).

Little by little they fall in love and go on a picnic to celebrate Joaquin's birthday, dining on "tostones y tacos" and drinking Rum and Tequila.

Recipes for such fare as Tostones Rellenos with Shrimp Ceviche and Oatmeal Shake combine with black and white photos of each establishment he visits, and behind-the-scenes stories of restaurant owners, making this a top collection packed with flavor and ideas.

They talked about rice, black beans (soup), pork, yuca con mojo (boiled cassava with a garlic dressing), tostones or tachinos (fried mashed plantain chunks).