What's the difference between a plantain and a banana?

One is ready to eat and the latter needs cooking,I had a Cuban friend that made a delicious plate including plantain.Also Jamaica cuisine also uses the plantain.

A plantain is starchier and can take up to three weeks to full ripen. The darker the peel gets the better because it means the fruit is ripening unlike with a banana which has a shorter time ripening and staying fresh before turning dark and spoiled. Also the banana is much more fragrant than the plantain.

Plantains have to be cooked before eating whereas bananas don't. Plantains, even though they belong to the banana family are closer to being a potato in both taste and texture and are usually used in the place of potatoes or pasta as they are starchier and not sweet like bananas.

A plantain is for cooking. A banana is like a fruit snack you can eat raw.

Similar species, plaintains are harder, more starchy, require cooking.

It's sameness, not difference isn't it?

one is grown further south.