Banana

Bananas are an excellent food source and also very interesting plants.

They are herbs, like grass and other soft stemmed plants. The plants grow

from an underground corm with a fibrous mat of roots. What may seem like a tree trunk is actually the rolled up leaf stems.

The fruits of a banana are enclosed within the large red “bell” flower

which grows out of the center of the plant. As the flower petals open each

immature hand of the banana bunch is exposed. The time from first “shooting the bunch” to harvest is about ninety days.

There are an incredible number of different types of bananas. Some

that are only eaten when cooked, may be called plantains. The most common “Cavendish” or “Chiquita” types can be eaten when green as a starch, or allowed to ripen as a dessert fruit. Other smaller types, commonly called “apple” bananas or “ladyfingers” are most often eaten when sweet. Green bananas are prepared in many of the same ways as tropical root crops. They are a readily available source of carbohydrates for energy. Ripe bananas have the same energy value as the green fruit except that it is in the more digestible form of sugar. Sweet bananas are a delicious snack food and can be used in baked items and meat dishes as well.

Banana Milk Drink

1 cup milk

1 ripe eating banana

Use fresh milk or prepare powdered milk by using 1 cup water to 4

tablespoons of milk powder. Mash banana thoroughly. Pour mashed banana into milk and stir well. Serve in a glass.

Note: This is a good drink for babies and children. It is also a very

refreshing drink for sick people.

Banana Bread

31/2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups mashed, ripe eating bananas

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3/4 cup butter

11/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

Mash bananas with a fork. Add lemon juice and mix. Be sure the bananas

are mashed well.

Cream together the butter or margarine and sugar, until they are well

mixed. Add eggs and beat thoroughly until light. Add the sifted ingredients

to the egg mixture in small amounts, adding a little of the milk each time.

Beat well after each addition. Fold in the banana mixture. Mix well.

Pour mixture into two greased loaf pans. Bake in a moderate oven

(180ºC or 250ºF) for about 1 hour. Cool and serve. Makes 2 loaves.

Variation: Instead of baking, this bread can also be steamed using the

following method: Start water boiling in a large pot with stones or shells in

the bottom. Grease 2 large clean tin cans. Pour bread mixture into cans, no

more than half full. Cover can tops with greaseproof paper or a leaf. Put the

cans in the pot, resting on the stones or shells. Cover the pot. Steam the

bread for a hour, or until a knife comes out dry after it is put into the bread.

PACIFIC ISLANDS COOKBOOK, University of Hawai’i