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Article: The wild bunch. (banana varieties)
- Article from:
- Sunset
- Article date:
- May 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Sunset Publishing Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Stalking the produce shelves reveals a lot more than the plain old banana. And cooking with exotic varieties has a savory payoff
Not so long ago, buying bananas was a predictable exercise. You simply went to the bananas marked Chiquita or Dole and picked out a bunch. You knew yellow meant ripe, and you could count on them all tasting alike.
But like lettuce, mushrooms, and tomatoes, the humble banana has gone gourmet. Now, tucked among the fruit you've known since childhood are new and exotic-looking varieties, including finger-size ninos, plump manzanos, squat and square burros, huge mottled plantains, and dusky reds.
The West's cultural diversity is ...