If you’ve spent much time in Mexico, you’ve doubtless heard the piercing, plaintive whistle of the camotero. Along about dusk, he wheels his wood-fired cart through the neighborhoods, announcing his approach by releasing water into a pipe that runs through the coals, turning water to steam and forcing it to spew through a whistle on the other side. It’s a purely Mexican shudder that for generations has burrowed into the soul of the country’s central regions.
Same with the rustic food the camotero proffers. The handcrafted sheet-metal cart has two drawers. The bottom one, closest to the coals, is for slow-roasting plantains and those joyously light-flavored, white-fleshed sweet potatoes. The top one is for keeping everything warm. Above, a griddle-like slab of metal lies at a slant for displaying the roasty-looking treats, enticing all whom the whistle has lured from their homes with the prospect of immediate satisfaction. The camotero’s knife quickly reduces the plantain and sweet potato to bite-size chunks, then he drizzles everything with sweetened condensed milk. In my first Mexico City neighborhood, thick slices of pineapple were also part of the mix, and rich crema de rancho, caramelly cajeta, fruit jam and cinnamon were offered as toppings.
Clearly, you won’t have the camotero’s set up, so you’ll be slow-roasting in the oven. Following the tradition of one camotero I encountered, I’m suggesting you line the roasting pan with banana leaves and, for the final roasting, sprinkle everything with sugar. The result is rustic, impressive and perfect for folks who like less-sweet desserts. You might want to serve all this deliciousness with ice cream.
INGREDIENTS
- Three or 4 pieces of banana leaf, each about 18 inches long (optional, but highly recommended)
- A large white-fleshed sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and sliced into 1-inch-thick rounds
- 2 large soft-ripe plantains (yellow with a lot of dark spots, softening but not mushy), peeled
- 1/2 of a small pineapple (you need about a generous pound total), top and bottom cut off, peeled, sliced 1-inch thick (core and all), slices cut in half for easy serving
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar (superfine sugar works best here, if you have it)
- Toppings (choose some or all):
- About a tablespoon ground cinnamon, preferably Mexican canela in a small shaker
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (Nestle’s La Lechera is the common brand in Mexico)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup cajeta (goat milk caramel available at Mexican groceries)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup tropical fruit jam (I like mango or guava)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup Mexican crema or creme fraiche
INSTRUCTIONS
The (optional) banana leaves. Slowly drag the banana leaf pieces over a high gas flame until they look shiny and are flexible. (Alternatively, you can slide them close up under a hot broiler, turning them regularly until they are uniformly shiny and flexible.) In a 13x9-inch baking pan, arrange the banana leaves, overlapping and pressing into the corners so they come up over the edges of the pan by an inch or 2. Pour ⅓ cup of water evenly over the bottom to moisten the layers.
The roasting. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lay the sweet potato on one end of the pan and the plantains on the other. Fold in any overhanging banana leaf, cover tightly with foil and slide into the oven. Roast for 1 hour, 15 minutes, until the sweet potato and plantains are tender, then remove from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Uncover the pan, push the sweet potato to one end, the plantains to the other, then lay the pineapple in the center, shingling the pieces so they fit. Sprinkle everything evenly with sugar. Roast uncovered for about 30 minutes longer, until everything is tinged beautifully with caramel color.
Serve. I suggest sprinkling all this roasted goodness with cinnamon and serving it directly from the pan it’s cooked in. Set up your toppings on the side for everyone to add al gusto. If your guests aren’t familiar with sweetened condensed milk as a topping, encourage them to try its creamy, toasty richness first for the most classic experience.
