Saturday, May 30, 2009

B is FOR BANANITOS DE ORO

Guatemala was and to some extent is still is a Banana Republic to the full extent of the term.
Bananas are not the main export any more and plantations are no longer in the hands of the United Fruit Company but it still is an important part of Guatemala´s exports representing 5.9% of its exports contributing to 7% of the world production.

This post is about a particular kind: Bananitos de Oro. (Gold Bananas -not golden bananas-)

Bananitos de Oro are small bananas, they can also be found in the US now, but I am not impressed with the quality. In Guatemala now they can be found in stores at well and again I am not impressed with their taste, plus they tend to be bigger. The good ones are the ones sold by street vendors or at the market, I think because they need to be cut ripe to have a good flavor thus not good for the supermarket life expectancy needed.

The taste is a lot richer (in a creamy way) and sweeter than bananas and seems the smaller they are the better. I supposed is like a concentrated taste. The picture below is from store bought bananas, I will go to the market one of this days and buy some good ones!



HOW TO EAT:

You can of course just eat them of the peel or...

Take them off the peel keeping them whole
Smother them with thin cream or this cream (not sour cream)
Sprinkle ground cinnamon on top



Posts part of the series A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

4 comments:

Murph said...

We've seen these as "nino bananas" at our supermarket. Are they the same thing with a different name? My husband, Paul, and Rudy love them but I prefer regular bananas.

Guatemalan Genes said...

They probably are, and that is the name they go by in Mexico, since that is a larger community they have the monopoly on the names :) :) :).

I am not sure we need the extra calories of the cream but you might give it a shot. You can always sprinkle some sugar and add to the cream vanilla extract.

Luis FIGUEROA said...

Bananitos de oro...u know: half the size, twice the flavor, lol.

Unknown said...

A modo de información esos bananitos si los estan exportando, yo vivo en Bakersfield Ca. y si los traen de Guatemala y Ecuador.