So I managed to get my hands on a banana flower. After much patience, negotiation and picture drawing to explain exactly what I was looking for, I ended up paying K1500 for this beauty. Beautiful to the eye and hopefully to bees too but definitely not beautiful to the pallet. I was unable to cook the bitterness away which rendered it inedible so the compost got it after all. My conclusion: the variety is not the same as the one in my garden in SA. Those were the little short fat ones, these are long thin skinny ones. This is probably why I get such strange looks from these people when I talk about eating it. I'm in search of the small plantain variety it seems.
The search continues
Never give up
1500 kwacha- is that about R25-R30? Sounds like a ton of money.
ReplyDeleteDid you strip out the individual little florets etc and soak in water, little lemon juice, overnight to remove bitterness?
R26.00
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of soaking them. Thanks for the tip, I will give it a go.
Did you learn to eat them in Burma?
DeleteGood morning. "Remember to read the instructions- ". If you Google search "Eating Banana Blossoms" you will find a ton of information, including videos, giving directions on prepping/cooking. It's fiddly work. Very common throughout South East Asia, Philippines and parts of South/Central America, East Africa. Bye-bye for now.
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