Originally Posted by SoCal2warm

The reason for using banana leaves mainly has to do with the utility of the cooking method.
It holds in the moisture during cooking, or in the case of steaming, prevents the inside from absorbing excessive moisture and falling apart.
There are some great Southern/Northeastern Indian and Sri Lankan recipes that use banana leaf with rice.
Also in some parts of the world they did not use plates and ate on banana leaves, which acted like disposable plates. Or if a banana leaf is placed over the plate, it makes clean up easier afterwards. It's a unique experience eating your food over a banana leaf. I think it can make the food more appetizing.