Bananas in Africa

Hi everyone!

I am Arthur and I am going to tell you more about bananas is Africa.

Africa isn’t the biggest producer of bananas. No, that is South-America.

They think that some settlers from Indonesia settled the bananas in Madagaskar and on the Comoren. From there the bananas spread out over a big part of Africa. Later, some Europeans brought the cultivation of bananas over to the middle of America. There are various types of bananas unique to Africa. The East African Highland cooking Banana (the EAHB) accounts for 70 procent of all bananas grown on this continent. The people living in the highlands form the largest banana-consuming community from all over the world.

Varieties

You have many varieties of bananas in Africa. Like in Tanzania, there are 20 varieties of bananas but not all of these are suitable for eating. For example, the plantains are good for cooking and the beer bananas are very good for making beer or wine. Of course there are also the bananas you can eat. These bananas grow everywhere and are consumed as a snack. One of these is the Cavendish banana, which dominates the export markets worldwide. This banana is now being planted in increasing quantities on large commercial farms in western, eastern and southern Africa.

Fun fact

Did you know that the EAHB is grown at an altitude of 1400-2000 meters above main sealevel? That's why they call it the East African 'Highland' Banana.

Did you know that seeds are not available? This means that all the bananas are grown from the shoots that appear underneath an existing banana plant. Once the fruit is harvested the plant is cut exactly in half. This allows all the nutrients in the plant to be directed to the smaller shoots.

Recipe: Filipino Banana Rolls

Ingredients

Filipino Banana Rolls: Looks delicious, doesn't it?

• 4 bananas, sliced lengthwise
• 4 tbs sugar
• 4 tbs sesame seeds
• 1 egg, ligthly beaten
• 8 lumpia wrappers
• 3 1/2 cups oil
• 1/2 powdered sugar or whipped cream

How to make it?

1) Sprinkle sugar and sesame seeds on a banana slice. Place a second banana slice on top of the sugar and sesame seed mixture. Repeat with remaining slices.
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2) Place a filled banana on the lower third of the wrapper. Fold the portion of the wrapper nearest to you over the filling until just covered.
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3) Turn the wrapper again to enclose the banana securely. Moisten the left and right hand edges of the wrapper with egg.
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4) Fold over the corners and press down firmly to seal, making an envelope. Moisten the flap of the envelope with egg and turn, rolling firmly into a cylinder. Seal firmly. Set aside, sesam side down. Repeat with remaining slices.
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5) Heat oil in a wok to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
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6) Place 4 or 5 turon at a time in the hot oil. Fry until crisp and golden. Remove with a skimmer and drain on paper towels.
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7) Serve hot, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or topped with whipped cream!

Enjoy!


Source: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/262/Filipino_Banana_Rolls_Turon6885.shtml

Bananas in Asia

Good morning!

I’m Lise and today I’m going to tell you more about bananas in Asia.

So for starters, the main export countries in Asia are Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, India and the Philippines. Did you know that the banana production in Asia is the largest in the world? Especially India, they produce the most: almost 30 million tonnes! This doesn’t mean they’re also the biggest exporter, because that’s Ecuador (like Julie told you in this post). The biggest exporter in Asia are the Philippines. They account for 98% of the banana export from the Asian suppliers. In 2012, they exported 2,6 tonnes, so they’re actually the second biggest exporters in the world after Ecuador.

Wherever you go in for instance Thailand or Indonesia, you’ll find delicious bananas. The banana plants even grow at the sides of the roads. It’s hard to find a place without bananas ;) There are over a thousand of varieties in the world. In Asia alone, you can already find hundreds of different variants. There are bananas in a lot of different shapes and colours like red, purple, green, yellow, …

The most popular banana in the world is the Cavendish banana. This is the banana you can find in the stores here in Belgium, the typical yellow dessert banana. In the Asian countries there are also other popular kinds of bananas, like the bake bananas! The banana flower is also sold as a delicacy which you can use as an ingredient or as a garnish.

I hope you liked my post, stay tuned for more!

Bananas: what are they?

Bananas

  

A banana is an elongated, slightly curved fruit, which comes from the banana plant. In Suriname people speak of bacove when it comes to the fruit that can be eaten directly from the skin and they speak of bananas when it comes to green plantains.

Bananas need a lot of sun to grow. That’s why they grow in the countries around the equator. Countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru...

The banana plant

The banana plant is the largest herbaceous plant in the world.

Although the banana plant gets pretty high, it is not a real tree because it has no wooden trunk. What looks like the trunk of the banana plant are actually the large petioles.

These partially overlap and they form a load-bearing structure, an apparent strain. At the

end of these petioles is a large oblong leaf disc with a clear midrib.

These leaves are in a spiral.

The size of the plant varies greatly depending on the specific banana variety: The most grown group variety 'Cavendish' can grow to more than three meters high and the kind of 'Musa Ingens' can grow to twelve meters high!

A flower bud grows on the apparent strain. This button consists of hundreds of flowers and each flower becomes a banana. Bananas grow in bunches of about 50 kilos.

The stalk of the banana plant is very short and is completely underground. The strain forms

a large mass of fine long roots that remain very close to the bottom surface.

It takes about 9 months for a banana to mature and be harvested.

The banana stalk only produces a bunch of bananas once. For the following bunches, the mother strain is cut off after a new shoot has been formed, which in turn is the the next bunch. Branch shoots are formed from the underground strain, these are taken and they grow new plants. The bananas that are grown for consumption do not contain seeds, as opposed to the wild species where the fruits are full of hard angular seeds.

Cultivation

The bananas we find in our store, come from large plantations and are mostly monocultures. Nevertheless, a lot of bananas are grown in agro forestry systems in the tropics. Farmers in the tropics have some banana plants on their fields or in their garden. These bananas are mainly for personal use and for the local market. 

Recipes from Brasil, Colombia and Suriname

Farofa Brasil

What you'll need

   • 3 tablespoons of butter

   • 3 sliced bananas

   • 2 cups of roasted manioc flour

   • 1 teaspoon of salt

How to make it

1. Melt the butter in a pan and add the cut bananas.

2. Bake for about 3 minutes, or until the bananas are golden brown.

3. Gradually add the flour with constant stirring. Do not be afraid to crush the bananas a bit.

4. Stir until everything is combined and the flour is a little fried (about 2 minutes).

Patacones Colombia

What you'll need

• 3  green plantains (unpeeled)

• 4 cups water (salted, or amount needed to cover plantains)

• 2–3 cups vegetable oil (or amount needed for frying)

• 1  dash salt

How to Make It

1. Plantains become sweeter and less starchy as they ripen, but they also lose their firmness. That is not ideal for this recipe. You'll find it best to use plantains that are still green and just starting to ripen, showing a touch of yellow on the skin. 

2. Slice the ends off of each plantain, then slice the unpeeled plantains crosswise into 1 1/2-inch wide circles.

3. Place the plantain slices in a bowl of salted water to soak for 1 hour.

4. After soaking, peel the plantain slices. If the peel does not come off easily, make a slit through the skin with a sharp knife, then peel it off. Place the peeled plantain slices on paper towels and pat dry.

5. In a heavy skillet, heat 1 to 2 inches of vegetable oil to 350 F.

6. Place plantain slices in the oil and cook until golden (the plantain should sizzle gently). Work in batches if necessary and drain on paper towels.

7. Use the bottom of a glass or bottle to flatten the slices of plantain into disks about 1/3- to 1/2-inch thick.

8. Return flattened plantains to the hot oil and fry until a deep golden brown. Drain on paper towels, and sprinkle generously with kosher salt.

9. Serve plantain warm with aji sauce for dipping.

Baka Bana Suriname

What you'll need

• 4 very ripe plantains 

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1/2 cup cornstarch

• 2 tablespoons buttermilk

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

•  Pinch of salt (or to taste)

•  Vegetable oil for frying

• 1/2 cup peanut sauce

 How to make it

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, flour, buttermilk, sugar and a generous pinch of salt.  Add some water gradually, enough to make a thick, smooth batter.  The batter should not be too runny or it will not adhere to the plantain slices. Set the batter aside to rest for 15 minutes.
 

2. Slice the ends off of the plantains. With a sharp knife make a slit in the skin of the plantain from one end to the other. Pull the skin off.
 

3. Slice the plantain diagonally into slices about 3 inches long, and about 1/3 inch thick.
 

4. Place the plantain slices into the batter and stir to coat them.
 

5. In a heavy pot, deep skillet, or deep fat fryer, place the oil to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat over medium-high heat to about 350 degrees, or until a drop of batter sizzles well and browns lightly.
 

6. Carefully cook the plantain in the oil (in batches if necessary) until golden brown on both sides (turning once), about 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.
 

7. Serve warm with peanut sauce for dipping.

Bananas in South-America

Hi everyone!

I am Julie and I am going to tell you more about bananas in Latin-America.

Latin-America dominates the global banana economy, and it represents an important source of income for these countries. Latin American countries export bananas to countries all over the world. They export to the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Ecuador, which is the world’s largest banana exporter, Costa Rica and Colombia are countries where the majority of Europe's bananas come from. 

The exporting countries in Central America like Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador, are known as 'dollar banana' countries because they are traditionally exported to North-America and produced by the United States' multinational companies like Dole, Chiquita and Del Monte. These companies  directly or indirectly control around 60 per cent of their banana exports.

The commercial banana production started around 1817 in Costa Rica.

What’s going on with the bananas in the world at the moment?

Colombia

According to the traders, the production has grown by around 13%.

1)  Europe remains the most important market, accounting for about 70% of sales.

2)  The American market with a share of 18%.

The prices are reasonably good and no changes in the demand are reported yet. The government is investing to increase production.

Colombia exports around 120,000 boxes of bananas per week and continues to consolidate as one of the leading producers of this fruit in the world. Colombia is the third largest exporter of bananas in the world after Ecuador and Costa Rica.

The banana export from Colombia continues to grow. The reason for this increase is because the bananas can be transported in refrigerated containers with container ships. These ships have a higher competitive capacity because of the lower costs and because they are more efficient.

Costa Rica

The weather in Costa Rica picked up well this year for the banana growers in the country. The demand has increased. A grower reports that the production will reach 2 million boxes this year. Black Sigatoka, a disease in Costa Rica, is a problem in the humid Costa Rica, but for now it can be well controlled.

Ecuador

The harvest has been delayed by a few weeks due to the weather change. Because the temperature is lower, the production has decreased. In addition, demand from Europe will fall due to the holiday season on the continent. At the moment, the demand is still stable, the decline in week 18 was already used. The same picture can be seen in the prices, normally the prices in this period are low. Ecuadorian exporters suspect that this is because other countries in the region can deliver fewer bananas.

 
Peru

Due to climate change, production has declined. In the past three weeks the temperature was 3 to 4 degrees below the average. This has consequences for the harvest that is delayed by this. Production has fallen but demand has increased. The demand is growing especially for biobanans. Growers struggle to meet the demand. The demand is expected to fall in the coming weeks. For this year a growth of 10 percent in production and export is expected.

Fun facts about bananas

1. The origin of the banana republic began with the introduction of the banana fruit to the United States: Banana republic is a politically unstable country with an economy dependent on exports of a product with limited resources, such as bananas, minerals. Countries like Honduras or Guatemala are called banana republics.

2. According to the horticultural definition, the banana is counted among the vegetables. However, according to the culinary definition, it is a fruit, because the banana is eaten as a dessert or as a snack.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

Recipe: Banana bread!

No need for a mixer in this recipe! Clean-up is easy too, if you want, you can mix everything in one mixing bowl.

The best bananas to use for banana bread are those that are over-ripe. The yellow peels should be at least half browned, and the bananas inside squishy and browning.

Ingredients

· 2 to 3 very ripe bananas, peeled
· 1/3 cup melted butter
· 1 teaspoon of baking soda
·  Pinch of salt
· 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
· 1 large egg, beaten
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 175°C, and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

2) In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

3) Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

4) Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 175°C, or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5) Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)


Enjoy your banana bread!

Tom