Stalk of bananas
Flora of Mexico: The Banana
The banana is an herbaceous plant (not a tree) originating in the Indo-Malaysian region reaching to northern Australia. Bananas are believed to have been first introduced to Europe in the 10th Century A.D., reaching the Americas with Portuguese mariners during the 16th C. Today, bananas and plantains grow in every humid, tropical region of the world.
The ripe fruit of the dessert banana is high in energy and low in fat. It is rich in vitamins B6, A and C, and particularly in potassium. Dessert bananas are those commonly eaten raw and can be preserved by cooking, canning, freezing or drying.
Plantains and “cooking bananas” are starchy and woodier than regular eating bananas, are used green rather than ripe, and require cooking to break down the starchy pulp. They can be boiled in their skins (first pierce the skin with a fork), fried (great in butter with a bit of brown sugar and a dollop of cream!), flambéed or baked, and make an excellent accompaniment to almost any kind of dish. They are also excellent grilled in their skins on a barbecue.
In Mexico one can often find what look like little baby bananas that are not much larger than a fat finger. These have a distinctive, tangy, citrusy flavor that is particularly good.
Many southern Mexican dishes use fried plantains (the plantain is called Platáno Macho in Spanish) as an accompaniment to main dishes. They combine particularly well with rice, barbecued meats and mole.
A favorite recipe for a Banana smoothie:
Freeze a banana in the peel. (Seal it into a plastic bag and allow it to freeze totally — the peel will turn black but the fruit will be just fine inside.) Blend and freeze 1 cup of fresh mango pulp. Once both of these are well frozen, place in blender and add about 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple juice. Whip it up into a thick, smooth, still-almost-frozen mass. Add more apple juice or just plain water if it’s too thick and cold. This tastes as good as smooth, creamy chocolate!
Banana plants
Originally posted 2009-08-03 17:11:01.
