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Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

epicurious.com

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Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#21

South India has a pretty diverse collection of banana species, even from my limited experience. You have red bananas; plantains; and these very small (some are about the length of a finger) and delicate yellow bananas known locally as Yelakki, among others.

At This Banana Farm, the Bunches Grow in 430 Shapes and Sizes - https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-many-kinds-bananas...

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#22

South India has a pretty diverse collection of banana species, even from my limited experience. You have red bananas; plantains; and these very small (some are about the length of a finger) and delicate yellow bananas known locally as Yelakki, among others.

the small one you mention may be what is called karpooravalli in Tamil.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-English-name-for-the-Karpo...

commonly available in South India.

then there is the hill banana, also small like the one above. grows in the Palani Hills in Western Tamil Nadu, at least. maybe in other hilly places too. it may be the same as the above one. not sure.

one of the best banana varieties for flavour, not just sweetness, is the nendran or nendrapazham, grown in Kerala, and maybe in western Tamilnadu.

it's slightly larger than, and looks different from, the common banana. the outer surface is somewhat ridged, like a ridge gourd.

it can be eaten either raw or cooked. very different taste from the common banana.

considered a delicacy.

https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Nendran_Bananas_23405.p...

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#25

I fell in love with Apple Bananas in Hawaii. Highly recommend. https://hawaiiancrown.com/apple-bananas/

I'm afraid I will love Hawaii itself too much if I go there to visit. :)

that Hotel Hawaii song ...

"you can never leave" :)

https://genius.com/Eagles-hotel-california-lyrics

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#26

I recently bought a batch of six bananas from a local farmer's market - they were very fresh and very green and smaller, having just been picked. I let them ripen at home over the next 3 days. They tasted very much better than my usual rather tasteless supermarket-bought bananas. I'm going to try the exercise again tomorrow to check whether this was a one-off or not. After reading the article, I'm going to check with…

it is not a one-off. this is commonly done in India. in fact people even put a branch of bananas into a steel storage drum full of raw rice to help them to ripen. I don't know the science behind it.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#28

I'm eager to try blue bananas! I hear they are great.

You mean this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Banana I kid, I kid.

almost exactly opposite in a geographical sense, is the Rub' al Khali (The Empty Quarter):

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rub%27_al_Khali

i don't kid. it's huge, and mainly empty. I first read about it in an English children's novel about Arabia, as a kid.

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