Hey Gabe, I didn't see your post... I need to figure out how to make the thread, um... not read upside down!
I actually have a variety of banana, probably dwarf Cavendish, that my family has grown for a few decades. I live a little North of them now but still zone 9 or 10 so I'll give them a try. I've kept the corms alive outside over the winter but under less than ideal conditions and have only just this week moved them to a suitable location for them to thrive. Anyway these will probably be my eating bananas though I'm interested in a few others and would love to get ahold of Gros Michel/Big Mike to try out.
Messing around with the genetics is part of the fun for me. I've been developing an extremely robust tomato and a breed of poultry I like to call the great horned chicken. Ultimately I'd like to develop a seeded banana reasonably suited to table use but it looks like I'll just have to try and see what I get. Based on what you tell me it seems like if I do develop a seeded type I like I might still want to propagate it from cloning but as I understand it as long as its not a triploid it should retain the seeded characteristic. Part of the idea is to have something with the ability to adapt to unforeseen conditions in the future.
I haven't even had the chance to try to eat a seed type banana yet but I'm envisioning peeling the fruit then mashing the flesh and forcing it through a screen to remove the seeds, making something akin to guava paste. My gastronomic instincts suggest to me that a starchy banana so utilized could be processed into a variety of interesting foods. Maybe an entirely new angle on banana bread.