What the grocery stores sell is the cavendish variety that has been mass marketed
My trees produce the “ice cream” variety which thankfully I prefer. I just harvested 8 hands from a single tree last week.
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November 15, 2019, 08:10 AM
Pipe Smoker
^^^^^^^^ Apparently the “Blue Java” banana.
“It's also widely known as the "Ice Cream" banana for its sweet and soft flesh, which bears a similarity in taste to vanilla custard or ice cream.”
-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
August 25, 2022, 10:21 AM
Pipe Smoker
It finally occurred to me to look for manzano bananas at Whole Foods. And, by George, they had ‘em! Several bunches, in fact. All were too green, except for one perfectly ripe bunch of seven. I grabbed it!
Not only are these the tastiest bananas ever, but they’re also the right size – smaller in length and girth. The older I get the more I have to limit my food intake to prevent weight gain.
I’m very glad that I found them here in San Diego.
Serious about crackers.
August 25, 2022, 11:52 AM
frayedends
I once saw a documentary on why the Cavendish banana is sold in the US. I don’t recall where I saw it but I remember it being interesting and that it wasn’t the best choice. I did have apples as the OP describes when I was in St. Lucia. I think they were called Apple bananas but I don’t remember. Anyhow this video I watched on YouTube explains how Chiquita banana became popular in the US and how that started all of the banana popularity here.
Originally posted by stkfox: Manzano bananas (apple bananas). I’ve got about 40 plants right now in various stages of growth. Someone in San Diego grows these, they are common amongst banana people. Could probably go to this link to find a grower and produce them yourself. http://www.bananas.org/
Don’t forget about cooking them up as well. They are eaten out of hand or fried like plantains, both are delicious! The blacker they get (but not rotten ) the sweeter they are. Peel them and fry them in lightly oiled pan (I use coconut oil), a couple mins per side till the sugars kinda caramelize, you’ll be in for a treat.
Good luck!
August 25, 2022, 12:56 PM
Fla. Jim
Around here native bananas were called Horse bananas. Found this local link.
Growing Bananas in Florida - UF/IFAS Extension Indian River ... Jun 3, 2020 — “Orinoco” is the banana settlers most likely encountered, also referred to as the “Horse Banana”, it is a cold tolerant variety. Not too sweet, ... Florida small horse bananas from blogs.ifas.ufl.edu
Originally posted by Pipe Smoker: Sure wish I could find these bananas in San Diego. They’re so good.
Can't say about San Diego, but here in the DC area you will find these at Latino markets, and practically nowhere else.
Personally I prefer the flavor of slightly under-ripe Cavendish to the Manzano variety, the latter being too sweet for my taste.
August 25, 2022, 04:00 PM
Pipe Smoker
quote:
Originally posted by architect:
quote:
Originally posted by Pipe Smoker: Sure wish I could find these bananas in San Diego. They’re so good.
Can't say about San Diego, but here in the DC area you will find these at Latino markets, and practically nowhere else. <snip>
Thanks, but I suspect that you didn’t read my Thursday, August 25, 2022 10:21 AM post that resurrected this three-year-old thread.
Serious about crackers.
August 25, 2022, 04:08 PM
PASig
quote:
Originally posted by frayedends: I once saw a documentary on why the Cavendish banana is sold in the US. I don’t recall where I saw it but I remember it being interesting and that it wasn’t the best choice. I did have apples as the OP describes when I was in St. Lucia. I think they were called Apple bananas but I don’t remember. Anyhow this video I watched on YouTube explains how Chiquita banana became popular in the US and how that started all of the banana popularity here.
I'm sure it was for the same reason that the Red Delicious apple became the variety they love, it ships well, lasts a long time and looks good.
Too bad most of them taste like cardboard
August 25, 2022, 07:59 PM
StorminNormin
quote:
Originally posted by sjtill: In Hawaii we knew these as apple bananas. Here's a description that likely fits what you found, Pipesmoker:
quote:
If you've only eaten bananas in the Continental United States and Europe, odds are good that you've only had one kind of banana. But if you've had bananas in Southeast Asia or Hawaii, you may have run into a banana that's shorter and tarter, less sweet and perfume-y: an apple banana. In the age of pink pineapples and pluots, that might sound like the newest fad hybrid fruit, a cross between an apple and a banana. In fact, apple bananas, or Latundan bananas, are just a varietal of the fruit in the same way that Pink Lady and Red Delicious are varietals of apples. They're rich and just a touch tangy, a whole different ballgame than their cousin, the Cavendish banana, which is likely what you've been eating on your cereal.
Apple bananas, at least those we had in Hawaii, are more tart, firm, and IMO tasty than usual bananas, and tend to stay firm even as the peel gets black. They make fantastic banana bread, which you can buy on Maui on the Road to Hana. Ah, nostalgia!
I had those Apple Bananas while in Maui, along with the bread of course, and those are the BEST bananas! Even if you find them here in the mainland, they are not the same as in Hawaii.
NRA Benefactor Life Member
August 25, 2022, 11:28 PM
sjtill
quote:
I’m very glad that I found them here in San Diego.
That does it, PS. I'm off to Whole Foods tomorrow! Now if only I could find the Hawaiian-grown chocolate bars they had at the Whole Foods in Kahului....
_________________________ “Remember, remember the fifth of November!"
August 26, 2022, 12:06 AM
Jelly
Let see what Trunk Monkey has to say on Bananas.
August 26, 2022, 08:07 AM
Pipe Smoker
quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
quote:
I’m very glad that I found them here in San Diego.
That does it, PS. I'm off to Whole Foods tomorrow! Now if only I could find the Hawaiian-grown chocolate bars they had at the Whole Foods in Kahului....
I bought mine at the store on Nobel Dr., immediately west of I-5. I’ve never been so either of the other two Whole Foods stores here in San Diego.
BTW – that store also sells excellent garlic butter with lots of garlic. If you ask a clerk for garlic butter you’ll likely be told that they don’t offer it. But if you ask for it in the bakery department they’ll scoop out as much as you want. “Nadia” is most helpful. Caveat: available about 5 days out of 7.
Serious about crackers.
July 16, 2023, 09:47 PM
Pipe Smoker
quote:
Originally posted by cas:
quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail: We do have a banana expert on the forum, but he has not chimed in yet.
He suggests peeling them with your feet.
He hasn’t posted for a while.
Serious about crackers.
July 17, 2023, 05:28 AM
CQB60
Another forum thread gone bananas,lol.
______________________________________________ Life is short. It’s shorter with the wrong gun…
July 17, 2023, 06:32 AM
PPinesRon
A local nursery here in Collier County (Naples, FL) offers both Lacatan & Dwarf Cavendish, each at $20 for a 3 gallon plant. I looked up their descriptions and the Lacatan was the smaller of the two and considered sweeter. I might try to grow a plant just for the challenge.
July 17, 2023, 02:11 PM
jimmy123x
Manzana bananas
July 17, 2023, 11:52 PM
sjtill
Pipe Smoker, looking at the Whole Foods La Jolla website, they list “baby bananas”. Is that what they called them when you found the Apple or manzana banana?
_________________________ “Remember, remember the fifth of November!"
) the sweeter they are. Peel them and fry them in lightly oiled pan (I use coconut oil), a couple mins per side till the sugars kinda caramelize, you’ll be in for a treat.
