The History of Tostones

The Original Toston

In Latin America the plantain is the center of the universe. The mythology of the toston is rich.

The first tostonera was a banana peel. Some still use the banana peel to flatten the hot fried plantain!

Smashing Plantains, From Rock to Brick

Next, to keep from burning their hands, some went to a rock which in modern times was replaced with a brick – effective but hard to control – and lots of smashed fingers.

Brown Paper Bag & Coffee Can

The brick would get messy and dirty and eventually was replaced by the brown paper bag and the coffee can. The bag to absorb the oil, and the coffee can to do the smashing. Unfortunately, the bag got dirty and needed to be replaced very often.

The Bargain Wooden Tostonera

Then someone figured two pieces of wood could do the trick and the first modern tostonera was born. Unfortunately, simple engineering was not considered. The hinges were often too tight and the wood too soft and these bargain tostoneras had a very short life span. Plus, you could only make one plantain chip at a time. If you wanted to make toston cups, you had to buy another device specifically for toston cups that made one at a time – too much work.

The Ultimate Tostonera®

At last…a tostonera that makes sense. The Tostobueno® allows for the chips and cups to be made all on one unit…and you can make more than one at a time. When you buy our trio no trees get killed because the Tostobueno® is made from eco-friendly bamboo.