Go for bananas with these recipes, celebrate National Banana Day and support local farmers
Bananas are a staple of Australian fruit bowls and lunch boxes, and while delicious on their own, they can also be used to create an array of tasty treats.
Ahead of National Banana Day on 1 May and amid a 20 percent drop in sales, the industry has launched two marketing campaigns to encourage Australians to put bananas back on the menu.
But for some people, they never left. From unripe to overripe bananas, they have a recipe.
Loading
Overripe?
Country Women’s Association (CWA) Pioneer Division secretary Lyn Hackett shares her three-ingredient banana bread.
There’s nothing like banana cake. Mrs. Hackett is icing hers with lemon-flavored butter icing.
Eileen and Veronica Fatnowna make banana cassava, a traditional dish of the South Sea islanders.†ABC Tropical North: Tegan Philpott†
Not quite ripe yet?
The Fatnowna family in North Queensland makes a South Sea Islander dish, green banana and coconut.
Eileen and Veronica Fatnowna say it is traditionally eaten with canned tuna.
Once served, green banana and coconut take on the texture and appearance of a glazed banana. †Delivered†
Something else?
Banana cassava is traditionally cooked over a fire, but can also be done in an airfryer.†Delivered†
Banana cassava is a traditional dish of the South Sea islander.
It is traditionally cooked over a fire, but it takes 30 minutes in an airfryer.
The Fatnowna family says to peel the cassava so that the skin and the first layer of pulp come off, otherwise it can be poisonous.
However, you can also buy cassava already peeled and grated from some specialty stores.
Cassava is a nutty, starchy root vegetable native to South America. †ABC Tropical North: Tegan Philpott†
Fruit salad and lunch boxes
And of course you can also enjoy bananas as they are.
Paul Inderbitzin, who grew up on a farm on Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands and whose family has been in the industry for nearly 30 years, says there are hundreds – perhaps thousands – of banana varieties in the wild.
He has some tips for choosing the best banana for a fruit salad or lunch box, but it’s a tough choice to nominate a favorite.
“The humble Cavendish does me just fine,” Mr. Inderbitzin says.
“The good old sugar banana, they are nice and short and good for the lunch box.”
National Banana Day is celebrated on May 1. †ABC Tropical North: Tegan Philpott†
