The Organic Market and Café

Bananas - Cavendish

$6.60 per kg

Description

Our bananas are quite large at the moment - around 5 to the kg. Cavendish is a large dessert banana that can be can be eaten fresh at various stages of ripeness, cooked or dried. Cavendish is the world’s best known eating banana and accounts for approximately 85% of Australia’s banana production, with more than one billion eaten each year. Bananas originated in South East Asia and the Papua New Guinea region. There are even bananas native to the rainforests of north Queensland. They are the most important horticultural crop in tropical north Queensland and perhaps the best known of all tropical fruits. Chinese settlers introduced bananas into the region in the late 1800's and numerous varieties have been introduced since. The banana plant is actually an enormous herb and because of its continuous reproduction is regarded by Hindus as a symbol of fertility and prosperity. There is also a theory that the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden was a banana. Characteristics Bananas vary in shape, from curved to straight and from cylindrical to square. Their length varies from between 6 cm and 35 cm. The skin colour depends on the variety and can range from yellow to green and from blue to red. The flesh of bananas can vary in colour from white to orange. Taste The taste and texture of bananas varies depending on their variety and the stage of ripeness. For example, Cavendish is typical of a low-acid banana while the characteristic tang of the Lady Finger variety is due to its acid components. Buying and Storing Unlike some other fruits bananas will continue to ripen, particularly at room temperature. Storing bananas in a refrigerator will cause their skin to blacken, but this can be minimised by wrapping them in paper. When kept in a fruit bowl, bananas will hasten the ripening of other fruit because of the natural ethylene they produce. Preparing and Serving Bananas are the original fast food! They can be peeled and eaten fresh or cooked. Ripe bananas are delicious and can be used in smoothies, milkshakes, fruit salads, cakes and sweet or savoury dishes. For a treat, try coating fresh, frozen or dried bananas in melted chocolate. Dried bananas make an excellent food for lunches and outdoor activities. If the fruit is sliced but is not being eaten immediately, brush with lemon to prevent discolouration. For fresh fruit salads, Lady Finger, Ducasse and Goldfinger are best because they hold their natural colour and do not darken. Bananas can be stored by freezing or drying. Peeled bananas can be frozen and stored in a freezer bag for up to six months. What happens to a non organic banana? Non organic bananas are treated with chemicals when they're growing, harvested and shipped, which include a toxic soup of herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. To control worms and prevent uprooting losses, farmers apply nematocides. One of the most common type of nematocide is Aldicarb, which can be lethal. Other chemicals used include benomyl (linked to birth defects) and chloropyrifos (neurotoxin).