This is a bit of a revisit, since I've discussed plantains before, in my post on August 24, 2014. (I went into plantains/bananas in my post on June 2, 2018, as well.) But, the companies and brands I'll talk about in today's post are new to me. I tried five varieties in all: original and garlic flavored plantain chips from the Chifles brand (Plantain Products Company), and the Pacific sea salt plantain chips, the jungle chili plantain chips, and the rainforest veggie chips from the Samai brand (The Exotic Blends Company).
The Plantain Products Company is an Ecuadorian/American company. Segundo Argudo, a geophysicist student, met Peggy, who worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Washington, D.C. They quickly fell in love and married, and went to live in Segundo's native Ecuador. During Segundo's travels as a geophysicist he had the opportunity to try chifles, or fried plantain chips (or "crisps" to those in the U.K.). Peggy, meanwhile, noticed the popularity of chifles sold by street vendors while staying in Cuba. When they returned to live in the U.S., they decided to try to sell them, in such an unrealized, but potentially lucrative market. By 1965, they'd started their company, in Florida, and it thrived. Segundo, alas, died in 2000, but Peggy stayed on as the CEO/President until 2017. At this point she sold out to the Rivas brothers, who'd been with the company since 1973 as distributors. Aside from the ones I tried, other plantain chip flavors offered include tostone original, plantain shells, plantain strips, no salt, lime, hot + spicy, and sweet. They also market a type of cassava chip (see my April 10, 2014 post for more information on that food). The official company website also keenly notes that their products are free of nuts and gluten, and are good sources of potassium and Vitamin C. They're also low-sodium, vegan-appropriate, and are certified kosher by the Orthodox Union (OU). And, although the Plantain Products Company is based in Florida, the chips are made in Ecuador.
The Exotic Blends Company, however, is much more recent in origin. Their website revealed that they were started in 2000, by unidentified persons. Their stated goal was to give the world as taste of Ecuador's fruits and vegetables. (Also, presumably to make money--we all live in the real world, after all!) Samai means "breath of the rainforest" in the native Ecuadorian Quechua language. The company's products are sold in over 30 countries worldwide, and it has annual sales of 14,000,000 bags of chips. The website also mentions their charitable contributions, and commitment to sustainable agriculture. The Exotic Blends Company donates to programs dedicated to providing health and education to rural Ecuadorian children. They also fund Ecuador's version of Mother Theresa--Mother Claudia, a German-born nun who runs various orphanages and day care centers. The company's farmers are reportedly well compensated. Plantation scraps are re-used as natural fertilizer, and they don't pollute the local water sources. Nutritionally, the Samai products are lacking gluten, lactose, MSG, cholesterol, GMOs, and qualify as kosher. Alternate flavors of plantain chips include naturally sweet, garlic, sweet chipotle, and lime, and they also make chips from bananas and jungle roots. Finally, their products are billed as being onion-free, too. Is that a new trend that I haven't noticed? Are some folks anti-onions? (Apparently so.)
1) The Exotic Blends Company, Samai rainforest veggie crisps with sea salt: Made from plantain, sweet potato, cassava, and tannia. (Tannia is a tuber, and the plant is also known as arrowleaf elephant's ear.) Chips were white, yellow, or reddish, depending on what vegetable they were. These were alright, but not great. Even the sweet potato kind, which is a type of chip I usually enjoy quite a bit. I wish they'd been significantly spicier, as they were rather bland overall.
2) The Exotic Blends Company, Samai plantain chips with Pacific sea salt: These were discs about 4 cm. in diameter (about 1.5 inches), with a yellowish-brown color. Couldn't detect much of a salt flavor. Were only moderately crunchy. Pretty dull.
3) The Exotic Blends Company, Samai plantain chips, jungle chili flavor: Same size and texture as Pacific sea salt kind, and about the same color. Much better than first two Samai kinds. Had a decent spice bite. Not overpowering, but enough to make it fairy interesting. Pretty good.
4) Plantain Products Company, Chifles plantain chips, original flavor: These were small yellow discs, about 3 cm. in diameter (about 1.25 inches). Crunchy. Rather like the Samai sea salt ones, though, there wasn't much taste, and they were bland.
5) Plaintain Products Company, Chifles plantain chips, garlic flavor: Same size, hue, and texture as Chifles original flavor chips. But taste was significantly better. I like garlic in general, so that's not a big surprise. The best of all five kinds of Ecuadorian chips.
So, the results were hit and miss for me. I would buy the Samai jungle chili and the Chifles garlic kinds again. And I might try some of the alternate flavors of both companies if/when I get the chance.
Moving on to linguistic trivia, another usage of the Quechua language is the famous movie "Star Wars: A New Hope" (1977). The bounty hunter Greedo is speaking Quechua when he confronts Han Solo in the cantina. Apparently it's not translated into credible Quechua, but is instead more or less random Quechua words strung together, though. Obviously in the story Greedo is either speaking Huttese or his native Rodian (sources differ). And, when it comes to that scene you can put me firmly in the "Han shot first" camp, no matter what George Lucas thinks.
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