Dulce de Banano

Ever imagine slow cooking a jelly over an open fire for three hours? I know I never had, but I can now say I´ve done it, and it is so worth every hour of cooking! Last week I was invited to my friend´s house to cook a dulce de banano with her family. I had never had this before, and didn’t really know what we were cooking or how, but if someone tells me come over to learn how to make something new, I´m there!
Dulce de banano, is like a slow cooked sweet banana jelly, and it is a rare delicacy due to its tedious preparation.
It calls for about 35 really ripe bananas, 3 full squares of brown sugar, two cups of orange juice, and a dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract. First you have to mash all the bananas. Then make a fire and place a large iron cast type pot over the fire so it gets just enough heat spread equally throughout it. Use a large wood stick as a spoon and continuously stir the mixture so it doesn’t stick to the pot. Then after an hour slowly start adding in all the other ingredients. For the next two hours continue stirring the mixture, and it will start to thicken and take on a brown chocolate-like color and odor. About three hours into the process, it should be a darker brown color and a thick paste, that´s when it is ready to be eaten. You can eat the sweet banana jelly on crackers or bread and it is really good, better than any jelly I´ve ever had. I mean after all it would have to be amazing after being slow cooked over a fire for three hours! Just another wonder of the many things you can do with bananas.