Traveling in the Bocas del Toro Province of Panama recently I came
across some indigenous people selling very small bananas beside the
highway between David and Bocas. I paid a nickel apiece for about 8
of them. The bananas were about 4" in length, perfectly formed, sweet
and very delicious. My interpreter said they were called "Buchus",
but I can't find that name anywhere. It's probably a local name. I
would like to know where I can find the banana plants so I can try
them in Florida. |
Request for Question Clarification by
tutuzdad-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 17:19 PDT
Are you talking about PLANTAINS perhaps? If so, I can tell you more about them.
http://www.proscitech.com.au/trop/display/plantain.htm
Regards;
tutuzdad-ga
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Clarification of Question by
dood-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 20:25 PDT
Definitely not plaintains as I know them. However, if some plaintains
are small and sweet instead of large and starchy, it could be.
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Clarification of Question by
dood-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 21:11 PDT
After reading very cogent comments by Pinkfreud and Tehuti, I might
add that the peeling is very thin and that it may be the "apple
dessert banana." The website given by Pinkfreud is for a nursery not
too far from Edgewater, where I live and has a banana that almost fits
the description of the ones I ate. Thanks for the nice comments
Pinkfreud and Tehuti. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the plant
which bore the stalk, so I can't comment on the height of the plant.
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Request for Question Clarification by
feilong-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 21:47 PDT
I'm familiar with the banana you are looking for. Here in my place,
it's called "Señorita". There is also a similar variety called
"Ptogo". Both are sweet and have thin skin. The pictures shown in this
link can help you verify. Take note, the bananas I mentioned are still
unripe:
http://www.city.kitakyushu.jp/~moji/osirase/banachan~siryokan.htm
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Request for Question Clarification by
thx1138-ga
on
15 Apr 2003 07:12 PDT
I think it could be a "banana-ouro" or golden banana (That's what they
are called in Brazil anyway!)
"banana-ouro (inajá, banana-dedo-de-moça, banana-mosquito ou
banana-imperador) - é a menor de todas as bananas, medindo no máximo
10 cm. Tem forma cilíndrica, casca fina de cor amarelo-ouro, polpa
doce, de sabor e cheiro agradáveis. É muito usada para fazer
croquetes."
http://www.geocities.com/atine50/frutas/banana.htm
Basically the above says: (my translation from Portuguese)
"golden banana (other names) the smallest of all bananas, maximum size
10 cm (about 4 inches). It has a round form with a thin skin and
golden colour, sweet to eat, with a nice flavour and smell. It's used
alot to make croquettes"
banana-ouro (picture)
http://www.frutasjaguare.com.br/banana_ouro.htm
What do you think?
Best regards
THX1138
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Clarification of Question by
dood-ga
on
16 Apr 2003 09:16 PDT
The suggestions by THX1138 and Feilong of the golden banana and the
Seniorita banana may be the ones I'm looking for. I've ordered the
apple dessert banana from the website suggested by Pinkfreud. I don't
mind ordering a few more in order to get the right one, so long as I
can find a supplier in the States with an English website.
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Request for Question Clarification by
feilong-ga
on
16 Apr 2003 09:56 PDT
I finally found a nice photo of ripe señoritas:
Tagaytay - Bananas
http://members.tripod.com/billedo/images/bananas-2001-07-00-33.jpg
You can save the photo by right-clicking on the image and choosing
"Save Picture As..." so that you can view it better and be able to
zoom in using an image browser such as ACDSee.
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Clarification of Question by
dood-ga
on
21 Apr 2003 21:00 PDT
The pictures provided by Feilong look like the ones I saw. The
description fits, also. Now, where can I buy the Senorita Bananas?
Bare root stock is okay. Thanks, Feilong-ga!
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Request for Question Clarification by
feilong-ga
on
22 Apr 2003 01:11 PDT
Thank you Dood. Please bear in mind that here in my country,
"Señorita" is the local name of the banana you are looking for. This
banana is also called "Lady Finger" in many countries. Since the names
can vary, it would be quite difficult to track it down by its name
alone. I used several search strings and spellings for the Señorita
but found nothing positive with regards to where to buy this banana.
However, I seemed to have found a one-stop shop for bananas where
prices range from $20 - $25 and the owners seem to be real banana
connoisseurs. Based on the descriptions I've seen, it is most likely
that they have this particular banana. You can make inquiries by
showing them the picture links I have provided. Would you like to
accept this as an answer?
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Clarification of Question by
dood-ga
on
22 Apr 2003 12:39 PDT
I have lady finger bananas in my yard. The ones I'm looking for are
definitely not Lady Fingers, although the description and pictures
provided by Feilong seemed to fit the bill. Thanks for the diligent
efforts.
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