Food: Bananas 101

Four different types, or cultivars, of bananas. 

One of my readers asked me some questions about my recent entry, "Money: Tanzanian Currency". More specifically, though it had little to do with the entry, my reader asked me what a "hand" of bananas was. I realized bananas were something that have always been available to me but since moving to the tropics I've learned so much more about this ubiquitous fruit. I remember my amazement when I first moved to the tropics and tasted the many different types; from small and creamy to huge and starchy. Plus, bananas were one of the first plants domesticated by humans some 10,000 years ago in SE Asia, so there is definitely some institutional memory and familiarity with human beings and bananas.

Musa balbisiana, one of the ancestors of the edible bananas. Modern cultivars of banana are parthenocarpic (seedless) and are propagated asexually from offshoots. The plant typically produces two shoots at a time; a larger one for immediate fruiting and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" to produce fruit in 6–8 months. Often these are chopped off with a machete and planted nearby. 

Sadly, in the Western world we typically only import one cultivar of banana, the cavendish, even though there are 1000's of varieties worldwide. The New York Times wrote an excellent article a few years ago that I frequently cite, titled "Yes, We Will Have No Bananas", which takes a look at the history of banana production, the reason for a mono-culture of bananas, and the possible collapse of the industry as  result of disease and pests. If you want more, here is another more recent excellent article from the New Yorker discussing blight.

A "bunch" of bananas on a plant. 

Cavendish banana "hands." One of these would be a "finger", though I don't know any place that uses "finger" as the colloquial. I think I'll start it, "I'll have two apple and a finger". 

I digress... I'll try to respond to my reader. To answer the original question, a "hand of bananas" comes from banana "bunch", which consists of "hands", and each hand has "fingers". It's common for people in developing countries to eat bananas green (typically boil or roast). After all, a bunch of bananas is huge and would spoil quickly if they were all ripe. Unripe bananas have more iron, but ripe bananas have more potassium and sugar. Unripe bananas are not commonly eaten raw. For most of you western readers, your bananas are picked green and later ripened with ethylene gas. 

To further confusion, many places eat "plantains". These bananas are much bigger than most banana varieties and typically treated more as a starch than a fruit. They can be prepared unripe, usually boiled or roasted, or enjoyed ripe, mainly fried. Unfortunately, unlike most bananas, they are unsuitable for raw consumption. Although I have seen it some places, it's not preferred and can give you indigestion. 

One of my favorite things about plantains is they can be fried even if they overripe and black and mushy. It's nice to have access to a bunch of plantains and slowly eat them as they transform through the stages of starch to sweet. 

Bunch of plantains. Notice the pointed ends and narrow shape. 

Plantains at varying stages of ripeness. 

Caramelized fried plantain. Yes, please.

For some reason I was under the impression that plantains and bananas were two seperate species, but I recently learned there is no botanical difference between 'banana' and 'plantain'. Plantain is just a different cultivar. All modern bananas are descendants of the wild species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Thus, bananas are classified by those primarily exhibiting the botanical characteristics of Musa balbisiana (B), those primarily exhibiting the botanical characteristics of Musa acuminata (A), and those with characteristics that are the combination of the two. There are eleven groups with names like: AAA, AAB, AB, BBB, and ABBB. The cavendish, the most common in the Western world, is AAA. 

Arsenal of small bananas.  

This is like a police line-up in the world of fruit. 

Bananas can be all different colors. 

While working in Nigeria, I visited a friend working for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). She was well versed in botany and had a tree nursery at the facility. She happened to have a catalog from a banana cultivar supplier with a variety of bananas I had never imagined existing. Subtleties in taste, needs for growing conditions, and economic viability were all endorsed in this stunning catalog. 

And to imagine, most types of tropical fruits, from pineapples to mangoes, have this type of variety. I always tell people, fresh fruits and vegetables are one of my favorite things of living in the tropics! 

The thousand finger banana cultivar. I don't believe any additional comments are necessary.