sleigh

hi i am so sorry if this an obvious question but i am new to the banana world. what is the deal with plantains? are all bananas plantains but not all plantains bananas? vice versa? do they have any special characteristics? if they are different... are they better?

basically just share your experience with plantains in this thread.... i dont haev a ton of access to them (i live in chicago :sadbanana but when the time comes i wanna know exactly what im doing

sunfish

sleigh

thank you very much!

i know this is a basic question so links are appreciated just as well as more thought out posts..... are there any controversies about plantains?

Illia

There's a few GMO Plantains out there, haven't a clue which cultivars. (They're african though) Otherwise they're just as good as bananas, in fact many perfectly sweet bananas are also plantains. Even the storebought plantains fully ripe are practically sickeningly sweet. There's really no difference though, only in one variety from the other, the same as normal sweet ones. Plantains normally are thicker and larger in fruit size, that's about it. Some aren't sweet but not all.

The common Orinoco is a plantain. The true Ice Cream (not the falsely sold Namwah) is considered a plantain I believe?

PR-Giants

Bananas and Plantains are very different, Orinoco and Ice Cream are bananas not plantains.

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Illia

Not that I've heard of, at least, for Orinoco ? The nutrients are different in most plantains vs bananas, but, I don't see much difference in most cases. Even African Rhino horns, not from my experience but what I hear, are still just as sweet, grow pretty much the same as a similar dessert banana, . . .

robguz24

Orinoco and Ice Creams can be considered cooking bananas, but not plantains. They are also eaten ripe out of hand.

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Gabe15

There has got to be a thread somewhere on this site clearly explaining the differences, but I will summarize.

Plantains are a very specific type of banana, it is a genetic group of bananas. All plantains are bananas, but not all bananas are plantains. Just like all Chihuahuas are dogs, but not all dogs are Chihuahuas.

The difference between a "cooking banana" and "dessert banana" are purely cultural, there is no biologic way to separate the two. There are many cultivars which are specifically called either cooking or dessert only, but it is completely relative to the context and cultural use (certain cultivars are used for certain recipes at various stages of ripeness). Some cultivars lend themselves better to certain ways of cooking in that they seem to please the most people when eaten, but any banana is edible cooked in any manner, and also raw when ripe.

Plantain bananas are normally cooked, but it is by no means necessary as stated above.

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