Short answers, pulled from the story.
All plantains are cooking bananas, but not all cooking bananas are plantains. True plantains belong specifically to the AAB genome group. Cooking bananas is a broader category covering cultivars in the AAB, AAA, ABB, and BBB groups, all classified under the scientific name Musa x paradisiaca.
Cooking bananas are a major food staple in West and Central Africa, the Caribbean islands, Central America, and northern South America. In Africa, plantains and bananas provide more than 25 percent of the caloric requirements for over 70 million people.
Raw plantain is an excellent source of vitamin B6 at 23% of the daily value and vitamin C at 22% of the daily value, and a good source of magnesium and potassium. A 100-gram serving provides 122 kilocalories, while an average whole plantain provides about 220 kcal.
Tostones are twice-fried plantain fritters common across Latin America and the Caribbean. Plantain slices about 4 cm long are fried in oil, removed and smashed to about half their original height, then fried a second time and seasoned with salt. They are also known as banann peze in Haiti and patacones in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
Mofongo is a dish from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic made by mashing fried plantains in a mortar with chicharron or bacon, garlic, olive oil, and stock. The mixture is shaped into cylinders roughly the size of two fists and eaten warm, usually with chicken broth.
Banana ketchup is a uniquely Philippine product made from saba bananas. It was originally invented during World War II as a substitute for tomato ketchup when tomatoes were scarce.