Machuca

Machuca is a Honduran dish of mashed boiled green plantain served with fried pork and cheese.

Plantain, a starchy cooking banana, is a staple across Central America, and in Honduras it is the base of machuca. The dish is a filling plate rather than a light snack: the soft plantain makes up the bulk, while the pork and cheese bring salt, fat and savoury flavour.

What it really is

Green plantain is peeled, boiled in salted water until tender, then mashed while hot into a firm, pale paste. Pork is cut into pieces and fried until browned and crisp at the edges, often with onion. The fried pork and the cheese are served alongside the mash. The plantain is the body of the dish, and the cheese adds a mild, milky note. Green plantain is starchy and not sweet, so the dish is savoury from start to finish.

How it's served

• Hot, with the pork still crisp at the edges and the mash warm.
• The mashed plantain forms the base of the plate, with the fried pork and cheese beside or on top of it.
• As a full plate, eaten with a fork, rather than as a snack.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the protein: fried pork. If you sell a set weight or cut, state it.
• Flag milk, since the cheese contains it.
• Ask the kitchen whether the plantain is mashed with butter, cream or milk, because that changes the allergen list.
• State that the plantain is green, so guests know it is starchy and not sweet.
• Say whether the cheese comes on the plate or on the side, and how much is served.