This may sound a little weird but in a mortar I placed:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup Stivalet Banana Vinegar
1 tablespoon Oregano Indio
1 scant teaspoon Rancho Gordo Vanilla extract
salt
2 cloved chopped garlic
I pounded away until I had a thick sauce and then slathered this on chicken parts. After a long marinade, I cooked them in an Italian mattone on the gas stove but you could easily grill or bake the chicken pieces.
Even the picky eater in our family loved it. In case you care, those are green beans, red rice and a bowl full of simple Good Mother Stallard beans to complete the meal. The banana vinegar and vanilla give it a vague tropical feel but it’s subtle and not too cute. I think any more vanilla would be nasty and cloying.
I love looking for ways to use this incredible vinegar. I’m told the actual fruit is somewhere between a banana and a plantain. Traveling in the tropics, you realize how limited our typical banana is in comparison to all the varieties out there.
Each taste sends me back to Veracruz, Mexico, where I first tasted the stuff. I think I need to find my passport soon as I’m getting itchy just looking at these old photos.
