Yes, we have bananas. And an amazing banana bread recipe
The scientific name for the genus of the bananas and plantains is Musa, which in many Romantic Languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian means “muse”. Isn’t it poetic?
While there’s no evidence for a historical connection between the scientific nomenclature for bananas and these fruits’ inspirational nature, I would like to use the coincidence to share this amazing bread recipe with you.
It’s a real ode to our muse of the week: The Banana.
Banana Bunches, Laos by robjwood at http://blog.travellerspoint.com/190/
Crunchy Whole Grain Banana Bread
Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup packed natural brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed over-ripe bananas (preferably organic; although the eatable part of the bananas do not absorb as much pesticides as other fruits like strawberries and peaches do, the toxic products used to grow and ripen bananas in tropical areas of the world are very harmful to the environment and to workers in the banana industry; you can learn more about that by reading the section “Know your food”, below)
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (preferably 60% cocoa) or carob chips
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Lighly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with butter.
3. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
4. In another large bowl, mix the butter, honey, and sugar and beat for two minutes. Add the eggs and lightly beat until just combined. Mix in bananas and vanilla and gradually beat in the flour mixture in thirds.
5. Dilute baking soda in ¼ cup of lukewarm water, then beat into batter.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped nuts.
7. Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 325 for 52 minutes (careful not to overbake as it may dry out the bread)
8. Remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Huuummmm…..
Image from http://cherryhillcottage.typepad.com
Know your food:
- Bananas are native to tropical Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea
- Bananas are grown throughout the humid tropics and subtropics, where they are of great importance both as subsistence crops and as sources of domestic and international trade
- Edible bananas have an extremely complicated origin involving hybridization, mutation and finally selection by humans
- Most edible bananas are seedless and hence sterile, so they are propagated vegetatively (i.e. removing and transplanting part of the underground stem)
- India, China, the Philippines, Brazil, and Equator are the top 5 producers in the world
- The United States is the world’s largest importer of bananas, bringing more than 4 million tonnes of bananas into the country each year
- Bananas are typically grown with one of the highest pesticide loads of any tropical crop. Although bananas present little risk of pesticide ingestion to the consumer, the environment where they are grown is heavily contaminated. So, whenever you can, buy organic bananas and support pesticide-free production of food!
Banana Bikers in Kenya by willgrahamphotography.com
You can learn more about the complex international banana trade by reading Anup Shah’s article entitled The Banana Trade War
5 Responses to “Yes, we have bananas. And an amazing banana bread recipe”
Leave a Reply
The blog 'EARTHactually' was started by a group of young scientists, teachers and activists who study the state of our planet and ways to live in harmony with it. Our mission is to create a lively forum for the discussion of all things Earth related without censoring, editing or peer-review.
Wow your Banana bread looks so good. Thanks for the inspiration!
Appreciate for the insightful post. I was trying to subscribe to your RSS feed, but I couldn’t seem to get it working with my RSS reader. Is there something wrong, or is it just me (I’m a hopeless technophobe!)?
Appreciate for the interesting post. I was attempting to subscribe to your RSS feed, but I couldn’t seem to get it working with Google Reader. Is there something wrong, or is it just me (I’m a bit of a technophobe!)?
Appreciate for the insightful post. I was attempting to subscribe to your RSS feed, but I wasn’t able to get it working with my RSS reader. Is there something wrong, or is it just me (I’m a hopeless technophobe!)?
Appreciate for the interesting post. I was trying to subscribe to your RSS feed, but I wasn’t able to get it working with my RSS reader. Is there something wrong, or is it just me (I’m a bit of a technophobe!)?