A while ago, I did a Hooptedoodle about bananas, which was prompted by my discovery that the Italians still eat bananas that taste like what I remember bananas used to taste like, rather than the bland, disease-resistant Cavendish strain which has largely replaced them in our supermarkets.
I never did come to any worthwhile conclusions, and the post raised a few eyebrows at the time, though those of you who have kindly stuck with the programme since then will have come to understand that bananas may be about as sensible as it gets.
Anyway, Sarah kindly got in touch with me, since I am obviously concerned about the state of the world's bananas, and directed me to a website which raises our awareness of the fact that the Cavendish, in its turn, may be on the way out. You may well wish to follow this link to see what the outlook is. This is not a paid advert, by the way, just a seamless part of MSFoy's Prometheus Hooptedoodle Service. Of course, I am concerned about anything which threatens the state of the World as we know it, and I would not like to see any developing nations damaged by the failure of their banana harvest, but I would be interested to see what might succeed the pathetic Cavendish on the shelves of Tesco and elsewhere. I never did find out where the Italians got theirs...
Speaking of bananas - I note this morning that Blogger doesn't work with Internet Explorer any more, so I've had to make a conscious switch to Google Chrome for my blog access. On a point of principle, I refuse to be forced to make Chrome my default browser for everything. Are computer branding wars a pain in the ass or what?
ReplyDeleteTo be quite honest I didn't even know there were differant kinds of banana!
ReplyDeleteYou see - that's one for the conspiracy theorists - you mean to say that a young chap like you didn't get banana awareness induction sessions at school? It's all a huge plot, I tell you.
DeleteYou don't suppose Google do bananas?
Ths solution is for Tesco et al to give us a choice other than Cavendish. Let it be like apples-if you look around you can still get some really nice ones! Shop strawberries, cherries etc are bland as well.
ReplyDeleteAs for IE-Chrome Wars (which sounds like a Warhammer supplement), we live in a branded universe where the battle for ultimate corporate victory is all. Only the strong will survive (which actually sounds like the introduction to the self same Warhammer supplemnt).
Must we suffer with Error 404 messages and bland fruit?
Amen, brother - I for one am prepared to stand up and be counted.
DeleteOne.
That's better.
Two! But I went with Firefox because my old company's programmer told me I should, and I've had few problems, but those I have had - have been with Blogger, doh!
ReplyDeleteAs to bananas...the best one I ever had was in Kenya - 30 years ago (I can still taste it when I close my eyes and remember!), it tasted like the food of the gods, and was - so I'm lead to believe - not a banana but a plantain!
I well remember the original Hooptedoodle, but came to it too late to comment, if I recall correctly, if not you would have got the Kenya anecdote then, indeed - you may have!
Hugh
Hugh - valuable input - thanks very much for this. It's not the date or the Kenyan setting so much as the fact that this is evidence that there is/was some other kind of banana which is (was) vastly superior. This is the only way to get round a conspiracy, I feel.
DeleteWhen I was first excited about this (2010 - good grief) I phoned a specialist importer of exotic fruit for some insider info. I got the distinct impression the person I spoke to was trying to hide something - they certainly were not interested in telling me anything useful. Fishy, eh?
Why aren't we allowed to eat proper bananas, I wonder?
It's the potassium...we would be fitter and less susceptible to disease, therefore more likely to start more successful revolutions!
DeleteBananas are types of plantain, and there are thousands of varieties grown around the world. Might be worth looking in Indian or Pakistani shops for different types, but but be aware that Eastern tastes are for ones we would look on as over ripe and usually chuck out.
DeleteRob
Thanks Rob - it's worth a shot. Our tastes tend to be conditioned by what suits the supermarkets - I realise they try to cater for what the customer wants, but to some extent what we want is driven by what is made available. Living on the edge of the Known World, we have a problem here on the Scottish coast in that fruit arrives here at the end of a long journey in a refrigerated truck, so it tends not to ripen properly - bananas in particular can go from unripe (green) to "past it" (black) in a single day, without seeming to pass through any more attractive stage. Strange.
DeleteVegetables (and some soft fruit and berries) are much better, since the supermarkets source them locally where possible. Maybe it's the refrigerated transport that spoils the fruit?