A object that my family's culture has is a tostones smasher. It has two wooden pieces that are connected together with a piece of metal. The two wooden pieces are identical to each other and are shaped like rectangles with a piece sticking out to close it. You put tostone between the pieces and close it so the plantain gets squished.The first time I saw it was when I was very young, in the kitchen with my parents. They were cooking mangu, fried cheese, salami and tostones. It was probably a Sunday cause that's usually when we eat Dominican “breakfast”. I saw my dad using the thing (I don’t know the right terminology for it) and I asked him what that was for. He told me it was to flatten the tostones. He showed how to do it and asked me if I wanted to try. I said sure and pushed the wooden pieces together. I opened the thing and saw it flat and round, with jagged edges. My dad then took it and put into the pan with hot oil. Once everything was cooked, we ate it and I tasted the tostone. That's one of the first memories I have of eating tostones.

– Chyanne N

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant