MYSTERIOUS CULINARY USE OF THE BANANA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Musa species
FAMILY: Musaceae

Looming over the Pacific Coast Highway just north of Ventura is Doug Richardson's Seaside Banana Garden, the only commercial banana farm in California. Standing in the planting, one would think to be in some Central American country, until reminded of the location by the horn of a semi truck powering down the highway below.

Doug started as a landscape architect, noticing various establishments of bananas thriving in his little community in La Conchita. He started experimenting with various varieties at home before starting the commercial venture, where he grows over fifty different varieties.

Through his experience on the farm, dealing with clients of diverse ethnic backgrounds, Doug has learned that there are culinary uses for almost every part of the banana plant, not just the fruit with which we are so familiar.

The following is information extrapolated from the first in a series of videotapes I produced, entitled "The Avant Gardener".

All of us are familiar with the banana as a sweet dessert fruit, and many of us have used it cooked in desserts, or, as common throughout the warmer parts of the world, as a starchy vegetable.

One of the most popular products from the plant besides the fruit is the flower. After the flowers have emerged, the flower bud is snapped off the plant. Some studies have shown this can increase bunch size by as much as 10%. Doug removes the flower bud more to decrease the potential which can damage the ripening fruit. The flower bud is relished by people all over South-east Asia: Southern India, Thailand, Viet Nam, the Philip pines and Indonesia. The outer bracts of the flower bud are peeled and removed because of toughness, and the rest of the flower bud is par-boiled to remove tannins. The flower bud, after par-boiling, is placed in a skillet with peanut oil and chillies and sauteed. Doug says, "it's delicious".

The small individual male flowers are used by Indonesians in salads. If you use these, remove the stamens because they are bitter.

A Vietnamese customer of Doug's tells him that the plant's suckers or pups are edible. A sucker of up to about three feet is removed and sliced thin, at which point it is steamed and then eaten. In many places suckers are also used raw as feed for cattle.

The bunch stalk structure in the middle of the plant, which runs from the bunch stem all the way through the plant to the ground, is also eaten. After the fruit is harvested, the plant is chopped down, then the outer layers of the plant are peeled off with a machete to reveal the milky cord-like structure inside. This structure is then cut into manageable lengths and sold for $2 to $5 a pound. It has become an increasingly popular item.

The banana has become a dietary staple wherever it can be grown, and through the ingenuity of sustainable agriculturists, throughout the plant's growing area. Amazingly, almost all parts of this incredible plant can be used.

Adam Wolf
Tropical Fruit News, Vol. 28 No. 5, May 1994

DATE: September 1994

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