Bananas

Let’s talk about a subject which has caused strife and conflict in many an otherwise harmonious relationship:  bananas.

I love bananas, but I like them to be yellowish-green, soft-but-not-mushy, and I want them to be a bit tangy but to still taste like banana.  I guess I like to eat them when they’ve just started to ripen, so they’re no longer bitter and hard, but still retain some firmness.  I can tell a banana is ready to eat when the outer peel goes from smelling like nothing, to smelling like a banana.  Here in the hot part of the country, I think bananas only have a window of about six hours when they can be eaten and still taste good.  The heat quickly ripens them, and they’ll go from green and hard to brown and soggy in about 72 hours.  If I buy bananas and I think they’re perfect, I’ll stick them in the fridge to stop them from ripening further, but I’ll still have to eat them in the next 24 hours or they’ll turn nasty.  I just do not like that really flowery, fragrant, overly-sweet taste of really ripe banana (I don’t like the taste of banana popsicles, for example, or other banana candy).

Bananas are the only thing that Flippy and I regular disagree about.  She will not eat a “tangy” banana, and wants them to be more ripe.  She doesn’t want them too ripe, however—she doesn’t like them with a lot of brown spots on them.  What generally ends up happening when we buy bananas is that I’ll eat a few of them immediately, and I’ll leave the rest for Flippy.  She’ll eat one or two of them, leave the rest, and days later I’ll be tossing soggy bananas in the freezer because they’re good for nothing but banana bread.  Then I get annoyed because Flippy didn’t eat the bananas when they were less ripe, and yada yada yada.  When we go to the grocery store I’ll ask Flippy if she wants some bananas, but if she says yes, then I end up grilling her about when she plans to eat them, and how many she’ll eat, etc.  I turn into the insane banana police.

Please tell me that someone reading this also has great concerns about the state of the bananas in their home.  I know my Mom likes barely-ripe bananas, like me, and my Dad will eat riper ones, so I’ll have to ask her how their marriage has survived 42 years with bananas in the house.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 11/01 at 09:55 PM

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  1. I think my banana preferences are in between yours. I’m not really into the tangy banana but I don’t like it to be soft or have any spots at all.  The last couple of times I’ve bought bananas, I’ve only purchased 2 or 3 which I’ve eaten myself. Alan doesn’t dislike them or anything; he’s just more of a Fuji apple kind of guy.

    Where we disagree, however, is peanut butter.  I’m creamy smooth, he’s extra crunchy.

    Posted by Helly  on  11/02  at  05:17 AM

  2. Bananas are the cause of the occasional tiff in our house, because, like you, I don’t like overly ripe bananas. I eat them when they’ve just turned yellow--still firm, no spots. Matt likes them more ripe and will even eat the spotty ones, but he never eats them when he says he will and then they have to go into the freezer for banana bread, which I don’t even like. (I hate all things banana except actual bananas in the perfect state of ripeness.) So right now there are a bunch of bananas in the freezer waiting form him to decide he wants banana bread.

    This leads to a similar scenario at the store to what you describe? “If I get these, I’ll only eat one or two before they’re too ripe--are you going to eat the rest this week? If not, we need a smaller bunch.” And so on. smile

    Posted by Helena  on  11/02  at  06:19 AM

  3. I had that same problem when my (biological, meaning not you) mother was still living here! But instead of the ripeness of the banana, it was more about the variety of banana.  Because we have 3 types of bananas available to us (The ones you could eat raw, anyway):
    1) Lacatan - which I liked
    2) Latundan - what my mother liked
    3) Senorita - which Rosella bought most of the time as a compromise of some sort.

    Now I always just get the bananas I like! Muwahahahaha!

    If you want a lengthy essay on the banana varieties in the Philippines, I found one here : http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/lacatan-latundan-senorita-bananas

    Posted by celine  on  11/02  at  06:21 AM

  4. All I have to say is...at least she realizes she’s being the banana police, because I didn’t really think she was aware of her banana craziness.  Clearly, the term “Going bananas” has its origin in, well, a certain Canadian ex-pat, and I won’t mention any names.

    Helly, the peanut butter problem is easily solved by just having two jars.  Peanut butter lasts a long time, so there’s usually no worry of rancid pb...except in your household.  Ewww, that blog entry gave me the willies.  Foods that smell rancid are icky.  My nose is about twice as sensitive as the average nose.

    Oh, and to be official about it - I like my bananas yellow, without any mushy brown spots (when I was in school, kids would bring these horribly misshapen brown mushy things in their lunches...ick), and tasting like, well, banana.  Leigh-Ann’s bananas don’t taste like banana, which is what banana popsicles taste like.  And banana bread.  And Banana Boat smoothies w/ chocolate ice-cream from Smoothie King.

    Posted by Flippy  on  11/02  at  10:28 PM

  5. Heh - yeah, Flippy, we have two separate and distinct his-and-hers jars of peanut butter. Which we eat upon our his-and-hers loaves of bread: he likes whole wheat or 7-grain, I like sourdough.  On the subject of jelly, he’s a Concord Grape man.  I’m against it totally.

    Posted by Helly  on  11/02  at  10:53 PM

  6. I’s not sure bout nanas, but Pixie, the curly cat who lifs wif Daisy, loves em. Mom likes them like Flippy does, just before they start turnin brown.

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat  on  11/03  at  08:06 AM

  7. Another use for leftover bananas or their peels, bury them around your rose bushes.  They love the potassium!  So do many flowering bushes.  Also, if you have a dehydrator, make your own banana chips.

    Thing is, I don’t like bananas at all, but my kids do!

    Posted by Brenda  on  11/04  at  08:36 PM

  8. I’m a member of the insane banana police force, too—although for me it extends to many varieties of fruit. Chances are that if you passed Scott and I in the grocery store you would hear the following conversation:

    Me:  Scott, you hardly ever eat fruit. You’re going to die of malnutrition. You should get some fruit.

    Scott [picking up a single apple]:  There. Happy?

    Me:  I’ll be happy IF you actually eat it. The last time you bought an apple it went all soft and icky and I had to toss it. Are you really going to eat it?

    Scott [defensively]: YES.

    Me:  Really? You’re not going to let it go bad, like you always do? Because that’s a waste…

    Scott: I’ll EAT it.

    Me:  ...and I hate it when fruit flies show up…

    Scott:  [putting the apple back]:  Forget it.

    Me:  Hey, wait, what are you doing? You need more fruit in your diet…

    Posted by Calamity Jen  on  11/05  at  06:40 PM
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