Bananas - Tomahawks Jungle food of choice

One of my favorite survival foods in the tropics is Bananas. I also like the flower cooked into a stir fry of made into a salad. I have picked bananas in the wild when exploring the Philippines, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand as well as the state of Chiapas in Mexico.

I have eaten bananas boiled, fried, roasted, uncooked, and made into cakes and cookies.

There are several types found all around the world but my favorite is the small red Banana, they seem to be the sweetest of all the types.

Once, while bumming around Mindenao in the Philippines I was in the market and spied a small boy carrying a large bunch or the little red variety, I wanted six or so to eat right away. I handed the boy 2 American dollars which is about 100 pesos. He handed me the bunch of reds, snatched the 2 bucks from me, and took running like he was scalded.

I guess the 2 bucks was a lot of money to him.

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red. In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet "dessert" bananas. By contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called plantains. Many varieties of bananas are perennial. Refer to the Musa article for a list of the varieties of bananas and plantains.

They are native to tropical Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics. They are grown in at least 107 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fiber and as ornamental plants.

Although fruit of wild species have large, hard seeds, virtually all culinary bananas have only tiny seeds. Bananas are classified either as dessert bananas (meaning they are yellow and fully ripe when eaten) or as green cooking bananas.

Almost all export bananas are of the dessert types; however, only about 10–15% of production is for export. The United States and European Union are the dominant importers.

The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy and are often mistaken for trees, but their main or upright stem is actually a pseudostem that grows 6 to 7.6 metres (20 to 24.9 ft) tall, growing from a corm. Each pseudostem can produce a single bunch of bananas. After fruiting, the pseudostem dies.
Leaves are spirally arranged and may grow 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) long and 60 cm (2.0 ft) wide.They are easily torn by the wind, resulting in the familiar frond look.

Banana fruit grow in hanging clusters, with up to 20 fruit to a tier (called a hand). The assemblage of hanging clusters is known as a bunch, comprising 3–20 tiers, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh from 30–50 kilograms (66–110 lb). In common usage, bunch applies to part of a tier containing 3-10 adjacent fruits. Individual fruits average 125 grams (0.28 lb), of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter. Each individual fruit (commonly known as a banana or 'finger') has a protective outer layer (a peel or skin) with an edible inner portion. The fruit typically has numerous long, thin strings (called phloem bundles), which run lengthwise between the skin and inner part. The inner part of the common yellow dessert variety splits easily lengthwise into three strips.

Each stem normally produces a single, sterile, male banana flower, also known as the banana heart—though more can be produced; a single plant in the Philippines has five.

Banana hearts are used as a vegetable in Southeast Asia, steamed, in salads, or eaten raw. The female flowers appear further up the stem, and produce the actual fruit without fertilization. The fruit has been described as a "leathery berry".In cultivated varieties, the seeds are diminished nearly to non-existence; their remnants are tiny black specks in the interior of the fruit. The ovary is inferior to the flower; because of stiff stems and the positioning of the ovary and flower, bananas grow pointing up, not hanging down.

Bananas are the staple starch of many tropical populations. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can vary in taste from starchy to sweet, and texture from firm to mushy. Both skin and inner part can be eaten raw or cooked. Bananas' flavor is due, amongst other chemicals, to isoamyl acetate which is one of the main constituents of banana oil.

During the ripening process, bananas produce a plant hormone called ethylene, which indirectly affects the flavor. Among other things, ethylene stimulates the formation of amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into sugar, influencing the taste of bananas. The greener, less ripe bananas contain higher levels of starch and, consequently, have a "starchier" taste. On the other hand, yellow bananas taste sweeter due to higher sugar concentrations. Furthermore, ethylene signals the production of pectinase, an enzyme which breaks down the pectin between the cells of the banana, causing the banana to soften as it ripens.

Bananas are eaten deep fried, baked in their skin in a split bamboo, or steamed in glutinous rice wrapped in a banana leaf. Bananas can be made into jam. Banana pancakes are popular amongst backpackers and other travelers in South Asia and Southeast Asia. This has elicited the expression Banana Pancake Trail for those places in Asia that cater to this group of travelers. Banana chips are a snack produced from sliced dehydrated or fried banana or plantain, which have a dark brown color and an intense banana taste. Dried bananas are also ground to make banana flour. Extracting juice is difficult, because when a banana is compressed, it simply turns to pulp. Bananas fried with batter is a popular dessert in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. A similar dish is known in the United States as banana fritters.

Plantains are used in various stews and curries or cooked, baked or mashed in much the same way as potatoes.

The flower;
The flower of the banana plant is used in South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, either raw or steamed with dips or cooked in soups and curries. The flower's flavor resembles that of artichoke. As with artichokes, both the fleshy part of the petals and the heart are edible.

Banana leaves are large, flexible, and waterproof. They are often used as ecologically friendly disposable food containers or as "plates" in South Asia and several Southeast Asian countries.

Steamed with dishes they impart a subtle sweet flavor. They often serve as a wrapping for grilling food. The leaves contain the juices, protects food from burning and adds a subtle flavor.
 

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