Am I a banana or a plantain?

12 Mar

Dear readers – I need your help!

Here’s the back story – last Wednesday, I grabbed what I thought, was a bunch of unripe bananas, at a fruit store in Queens.

Fast forward 5 7 days. That is a long time for bananas to ripen! So the alleged bananas were still hanging on my banana hanger (obviously, since they can’t go anywhere!) but the color hadn’t changed at all!

I grabbed one to take to work, thinking that it’s another case of bananas that ripe but don’t turn green on the outside, since that has happened previously. Strange, right? But it tastes ok.

However, this time, the alleged bananas refuse to ripen! In fact, the outside texture is still green, while the inside is firm!

According to my coworker, this is a plantain because of the texture of the peel. But another coworker swears it’s a banana! By the way, there’s also a cheesy rhyme sticker that says “Yum Yum Potassium!” For some reason, that makes me think it’s a banana! AH! I’m going bananas here!

Please enlighten me! Does anyone know the difference? :)

EDIT: Thanks everyone for commenting with your guesses. I have a few reasons to believe that I in fact, have bananas and not plantains.

Reason #1: When I woke up this morning, I saw this:

Now that looks more like bananas! Reason #2: I peeled one open and took a bite:

It tasted a little tart(!) but it was definitely a banana.

Reason #3: The following comment by my sister double confirms it:

“i googled the sticker. #4011 is the universal product code for ALL bananas. so according to the sticker, we got bananas! btw, stay away from that fruit store from now on. =)”

Duh! Power of the Internet! Why didn’t I think of that?? Thanks sister, for helping me solve the mystery! It should not take bananas 8+ days to ripen!! I’m kinda curious now as to what plantains are like. Maybe I should go buy some?

Thanks everyone, for your input!

Comments 12 Comments
Categories Uncategorized
Author Esther

http://runningfoodie.blogspot.com Christina

Oh, hmmm. Maybe place the “IT” in a paper bag and see what happens after a day? Maybe if it froze somehow it won’t ripen fully? Plantains generally seem much bigger than bananas, from my experience.

Okay, I’m going to stop since I’m not really helping, but I hope the issue is resolved soon!
Jack

I vote platanos. End the guessing! Cut ‘em up and fry ‘em up. Enjoy!
http://www.myspace.com/catesong caged songbird

I agree with Jackster. I say plantains.
S

def. bananas! Plaintains have a certain shape, and it doesn’t seem like these have that. I vote really weird bananas.
put them in a brown paper bag to ripen quicker. But i vote bananas!
vhat

i googled the sticker. #4011 is the universal product code for ALL bananas. so according to the sticker, we got bananas! btw, stay away from that fruit store from now on. =)
lisa o

that first pic makes it look like plantain fo’ sho’ b/c of the texture…

the market mislabeled i say!
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Banana Edmond

According to this website:

Green bananas

Although all unripe bananas are green in color, the term “green banana” usually refers to species of musa that are edible, but, due to a lack of customary banana texture and sweetness, are used for cooking rather than being eaten fresh. In southern Uganda, a variety called matoke was so widely used that it is now recognized and eaten all over the country. In many countries, green bananas are vital to the local economy as a cash crop. In India they are used in various ways—in the South as banana chips, in the East as an essential ingredient of shukto.
Silvett

They are bananas. Plantains are difficult to open when unripe and they do not taste good uncooked. The ripened version should also not be eaten unless cooked. The shape is also a bit different but difficult to distinguish. I recommend buying plantains, letting them ripen until they turn black; cutting them up and frying them up and then you will have maduros (sweet yellow plantains)! Yummy!
sam

I agree with Edmond. I was at shoprite yesterday and saw “green bananas” that were imported from (Ecuador?). But they used the same 4011 code for regular bananas, but the signage clearly said “green bananas”.
Worldly

Green Bananas are relative of plantain, but they are NOT plantains and NOT fruti bananas. In the Caribbean, they are cooked as a vegetable. It can be actually be cooked as a pie (vegetable pie).
ambitious

Worldly – good to know. Thanks for the info!!
Mike

Bananas that are chilled below 38 degrees F will never ripen and will stay ‘stuck’ as a starch and taste horrible. The ripening process converts the starch to a sugar and must be performed at a temp above 64 degrees.

Am I a banana or a plantain?

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