Banana!

Banana! was Originally Posted on January 4, 2007 by lavarock

There used to be a commercial where the catch phrase was “Banana!” meaning that they now had a banana flavor.

The banana is the 4th most commonly consumed food after rice, wheat and maize and grown in 130 countries and usually come in two types, yellow desert type and the green plantains used for cooking. When you go to the store, most people only see one type of yellow banana, the Cavendish, because it is the easiest to transport without much damage.

Because most varieties of bananas don’t ship well, people often never taste the other types unless they travel. One common banana here in Hawaii seems to be the Apple Banana, which tastes like a banana but has a slight aftertaste of, well, apples. The ice Cream variety has a hint of vanilla flavor, the Rose tastes a bit lemony and Dwarf Red’s taste a bit like peach. The Ladyfinger is smaller and thinner-skinned than the Cavendish and has a better flavor.

So you can see that the variety you see in the store leaves a bit to be desired, but, at least you get it fairly ripe, even thought they have to gas them prior to shipping.

So as you travel, you might want to try some of the local fruit. Just be sure that you wash all fruit well with clean water.

Now speaking of different tastes, years ago I was on a flight from Honolulu to the mainland and the flight had just come from Japan. As I took a sip of the can of “Coke” I immediately asked the stewardess for all she could spare. Outside the US, Coca Cola has real sugar in it, rather than high-fructose corn syrup. I could almost feel my teeth rot! Ahhhh!

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I mide a few modifications to my eplanation based upon an email from a freind. Here is Bryces explanation of how I mispoke.

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You imply that bananas don’t ship well — I know — you meant certain varieties don’t ship well. But the history of banana shipments suggests that they ship far better than most fruits.

Since bananas actually taste better if they are not left to ripen on the tree, they are ideal for shipping green. They were the first truly tropical fruit to reach the burgeoning urban markets in the 19th Century, as they could stand the delays of shipping by sailing ship from the Caribbean and most of the time arrive at markets in East Coast cities in acceptable condition.

This promising situation led banana companies to breed varieties that emphasized good keeping qualities and eventually applied controlled atmosphere and specialized ships to the trade. It became a big deal

I am told that today, you sometimes see several varieties of bananas, including the relatively delicate “apple” bananas in Mainland markets. But since I don’t live there, you can’t prove that by me. Cheers! Bryce