TROPICAL TASTE - Going Bananas...!

Did you know that the plant we know as a banana tree is not a tree at all, but an herb?  Did you know that the banana itself is not a fruit, but a berry?  The banana, (Musa sp.), a member of the Musaceae family, is the largest perennial herb known and can grow up to 25 feet tall and 2 or 3 feet in diameter.  Originating in the Asian tropics, bananas are now grown throughout the tropics and subtropical regions and consumed all over the world.

Photo: Banana bloom with baby bananas forming above it.

The banana bloom stem comes up from the ground through the trunk of the plant and after appearing, then the fruit starts to form.  This is one reason that once you cut the rack of bananas, the plant will die producing only one rack of fuit, but the plant will produce from one to 5 or 6 keiki (baby plants) around the base of the original trunk.

Photo: Bloom beginning to open and the more mature bananas are now showing their future shape a bit better.  You can also see another bananaplant with a large rack forming behind this one and also a baby banana plant growing just between the two.

Some growers choose to cut off the bloom once the fruit has formed for two reasons: in some cultures the bloom can be peeled, cooked and eaten as a vegetable and also, because as long as it is attached to the rack, the bloom continues to draw energy from the plant taking it away from the fruit.

Photo: One of our "Dwarf" Brazilian banana plants.  The dwarf plants plants grow only about 6-7 feet tall, making it easy to cut the rack. 

In average sized banana plants, the harvester usually has to cut down the plant to reach the rack of bananas, which are usually too high off the ground to reach easily.  Others will sometimes drive a pickup close to the plant and stand on the back or even the cab of the truck to reach them.

We seem to take the banana for granted, but it's one of the most well-known and useful "fruits" in the world. There are two categories or families; the sweet, dessert type banana and the plantain or 'cooking banana'.  There are many varieties under each category or family. In Hawaii we are lucky to have many varieties growing.

Photo: A 'rack' of bananas just about ready to be picked.  Banana racks are picked while still green but the ridges on the peel are filled out an almost smooth.

Cavendish and Brazilian are the two major groups of dessert bananas in Hawai’i.  The Cavendish group includes “Williams”, “Valery”, “Hamakua”, “Grand Nain” and “Chinese” varieties.   The Brazilian bananas are sometimes mistakenly referred to as “Apple Bananas” in Hawaii.   This group includes the “Dwarf Brazilian”.

Photo: A "hand" of 'apple' bananas. 

We grow up hearing the 'saw', “an apple a day…” but I thought it was interesting to note how bananas compare to apples. A banana has less water, fifty percent more food energy, four times the protein, half the fat, twice the carbohydrate, almost three times the phosphorus, nearly five times the Vitamin A and iron, at least twice the other vitamins and minerals of an apple, and as far as potassium is concerned…bananas are way off the chart with 370 mg!

It is amazing how many ways you can use bananas; puddings, ice cream, cakes, tarts, parfait, sauces, spreads, relishes, frostings, soups, stews, croquettes, salads, muffins and breads.  They can be fried, parboiled, baked, broiled and of course, raw in salads or as a snack.

Choosing and storing bananas:

Feel the bananas to make sure they are plump and firm, but be carefulwhen handling them, as they bruise easily. Choose brightly coloredbananas with green tips, avoiding bananas with dull or gray tones. Afew brown spots on the skin are normal.

Avoid bananas with blemished, split or sunken skin, or those thathave a strong smell - they are probably overripe. You can storeoverripe bananas with the peel on or mashed in the freezer in plasticbags and use later to make banana bread, muffins or other bakingneeds.

To ripen green bananas, put them in a brown grocery paper bag and addan apple. The apple will release ethylene which causes other fruitto ripen a bit faster.

Avoid refrigerating unripe bananas, as they will never ripen.Unripened bananas stored in the refrigerator will never ripen. Alwaysstore bananas at room temperature if at all possible. Storingbananas in the refrigerator will make the skins turn black, but youcan still eat them or cook with them.

Once cut, sprinkle with any kind of citrus juice to stop them frombrowning too quickly.

		Sonia Martinez, Gather Food Correspondent
	Sonia's column, 'Tropical Taste' is a regular twice-monthly feature of Gather Essentials: Food. Sonia is a cookbook author and freelance food writer for several publications in Hawaii, and is also a Hawaii Island Journal restaurant reviewer in partnership with her son Anthony Mathis.  She lives in a beautiful rural rainforest area on the Big Island of Hawaii. You can keep up with Sonia's adventures and ongoing love affair with Hawaii by joining her network, or visiting her food & garden blog at Sonia Tastes Hawaii.