Re:The Cavendish banana is under threat from a fungus
by Nursie on Saturday October 07, 2017 @07:53PM
(#15426311)
A lot of folks don't seem to know that there is more than one type of banana. The Cavendish is routinely all we are presented with in the UK. People have usually heard of plantains, but outside of the communities that have them as a staple, most folks think of them as a savoury cooking banana, and go no further.
The banana cultivar complex is massive, and full ofninteresting varieties. In certain parts of Oceania and the South Pacific there is a banana called the Fe'i which is used in stews or cooked in coconut milk as a dessert. Ive tried these and also apple bananas and ladyfinger bananas. I'd love to try red daccas, ice-cream bananas and all the others.
"Plantain" is almost as bad a descriptor as "banana" AFAICT with dozens of cultivars, mainly concentrated in East Africa, but also in parts of Asia and Central America.
I find the whole thing fascinating. While I enjoy a Cavendish now and then, I do wish we wouldn't standardise quite so much. But then we have industrial-scale production to think about.
The banana cultivar complex is massive, and full ofninteresting varieties. In certain parts of Oceania and the South Pacific there is a banana called the Fe'i which is used in stews or cooked in coconut milk as a dessert. Ive tried these and also apple bananas and ladyfinger bananas. I'd love to try red daccas, ice-cream bananas and all the others.
"Plantain" is almost as bad a descriptor as "banana" AFAICT with dozens of cultivars, mainly concentrated in East Africa, but also in parts of Asia and Central America.
I find the whole thing fascinating. While I enjoy a Cavendish now and then, I do wish we wouldn't standardise quite so much. But then we have industrial-scale production to think about.