There’s a saying that goes, “If you don’t like plantain, there must be something wrong with you.” Plantain is a staple in the African and Latin American communities. It’s so versatile, it can either be very savoury or you can use it in sweet dishes; it depends on the stage of ripeness. When it’s green, use it as you would any root vegetable. It can be mashed, boiled or baked, and it will be open to added flavours.

I like plantain at the height of ripeness. It’s bright yellow and has a certain give that lends itself best to frying. When you fry it, the outside is crispy and the inside is soft. Cut it on the bias or into cubes, and deep fry it until it’s brown all over. Then just put some salt on it or mix sugar, salt and a bit of cayenne pepper and put that on top.

At Chishuru, we used yo have it as a kind of canape. We micro-planed it really thinly, stacked it, then baked it in coconut milk and coconut oil. Once, we had loads of cancellations so were left with lots of plantain. I decided to use it for a street food my grandma used to make, dodo-ikire. Fermented plantain is fried in palm oil, spiced with chilli flakes, then put in a special basket and all the oil is squeezed out. She would sell it on the road and I helped her. I started to introduce it to the menu, but it was such a long process. So the next best thing was to make a fermented plantain ice-cream with baobab and a lime granita. People were really surprised by the stretchy texture of the plantain – very moreish.

​​Adejoké Bakare is chef-founder of Chishuru, London SW9