Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
content, the notion of cooking and eating green bananas and/or plantains
as a starchy food did not take hold in the United States. In contrast to its
place in many Caribbean cuisines, the banana entered into U.S. diets as a
mildly sweet ''fruit.''
94
The rise in per capita banana consumption in the United States co-
incidedwithadeclineinthetypesof bananasimported.Atleastfourvari-
eties reached New York and Philadelphia markets in the 1880s. An 1885
cooking magazine explained to its readers that many of the best varieties
of bananas did not reach NewYork because the ''lazyand ignorant people
who livewhere bananas growdo not take any trouble to cultivate the best
kindstomaketheirshipmentanythingofabusiness.''
95
An1889Arbuckles
coffeeadvertisementstatedthat''therearetwokinds[of bananas],theyel-
lowandthered.Thelatterisconsideredthebest,andtheseasonforthemis
from March to September; the season for theyellowones continues to the
middle of October.''
96
The Boston Cookbook's ''Tropical Snow'' dessert
called for using red bananas, an indication that they were both available
for purchase and highly regarded by epicures. As late as 1905, a Portland,
Maine-based wholesaler regularly carried red bananas and sold them at
double the price of yellow bananas.
97
However, by the 1890s, the vast majority of the bananas reaching
U.S.portswere''oftheyellowvariety''thatistosay,GrosMichelfruit.
98
Banana-eaters enjoyed the variety's flavor, aroma, and peel color, but ref-
erences to other varieties found in cookbooks and magazines suggest that
aesthetic values alone did not account for the Gros Michel's popularity
in export markets. The interests and desires of shippers and fruit dealers
played a major role in determining the Gros Michel's prominence. Ship-
perspraisedtheGrosMichel'srelativelythick,bruise-resistingskinandits
symmetrical, tight bunches that facilitated packing in ships' holds (prior
to the late 1950s, nearly all of the bananas exported to the United States
traveled on the full stem with minimal padding). Gros Michel fruit also
possessed a su
ciently long ripening period to increase the chances that
fruit shipments would reach their destination in a marketable condition
(i.e., not overripe). Shippers also valued large bunches of bananas: The
greaterthenumberof ''hands''onabunch,thehigheritsgradeand,there-
fore, its market price. As late as the 1880s, a bunch with seven or more
hands could be a ''first''; bunches with six or fewer hands were second-
or third-class fruit. By the 1890s, important shipping firms, including the
Boston Fruit Company, were raising the standard ''bunch count'' to eight
and nine hands, a move that favored varieties such as Gros Michel that
tended to produce high bunch counts.
