Ti-nain morue — green banana with salt cod — is an everyday staple of Guadeloupe and the French Antilles, the firm green banana serving as the daily 'provision' or starch. Plain, filling and beloved, it is true Creole home food.
Eat ti-nain morue and the boiled green banana is mild, firm, and starchy, the sautéed salt cod savory and a little salty with sweet tomato and onion. Bite: the green banana is faintly tart and filling, the cod deeply savory, thyme and lime brightening it, a gentle chili warmth. A humble, satisfying French-Antillean breakfast, often with avocado.
Boiling green (unripe) bananas in their skins keeps them firm and starchy, a neutral provision; sautéing the soaked salt cod with aromatics builds the savory topping that flavors the bland banana. Lime and thyme give the Creole brightness.
Variations
With smoked herring. With coconut milk. With avocado mash. Spicier. With breadfruit instead of banana. With a fried egg.
On the Palate
Where Ti-nain Morue sits in the Guadeloupean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 25 min active + 30 min waiting
- 114 min
Soak 300 g salt cod overnight; boil briefly, flake, and remove bones.
- 222 min
Boil 8 green bananas in their skins until tender, 20 min; peel.
Watch outBoil the green bananas in their skins just to fork-tender — cook them soft and they turn mushy and hard to slice clean.
- 35 min
Fry 1 chopped onion, garlic, and spring onion in oil.
- 45 min
Add 2 chopped tomatoes, thyme, and a little scotch bonnet; cook 5 min.
- 54 min
Add the flaked cod and warm through, 4 min.
Watch outJust warm the flaked cod through — a couple of minutes, no more, or the fish tightens and goes dry and stringy.
- 62 min
Finish with lime juice and chopped parsley.
- 72 min
Slice the green bananas.
- 82 min
Serve the sautéed cod over or beside the green bananas, with avocado.
