BANANAS AND BANANA RECIPES

Even though, because bread is the staff of life, I have concentrated on variations of BANANA BREAD RECIPES these banana recipes, which include bananas used in soup, main dish, desserts and condiment, should give you some idea of the tremendous versatility of the banana, which although not of African origin has in effect become a staple food in large areas of the African continent.

Edible bananas are thought to have first appeared in the Indonesian-Malaysian area of Asia, but spread rapidly into African and other tropical regions.
The tropical regions of the African continent produce approximately half of the world's banana crop.

The banana fruit is botanically a berry. Bananas are the world's fourth largest fruit crop.
Bananas, or rather the banana fruit, have become a staple food in many tropical areas.
In certain parts of Africa, the plantain, a form of banana, which is only edible when cooked, has supplanted the potato as a basic dietary item.

As a food the banana is grown in many varieties and is eaten in many forms: raw, cooked or dried.
Bananas are eaten on their own or as part of a dish. They may be cooked in a stew or served raw as a sambal with curried dishes.
They may also be dried and eaten as a snack, they are generally sliced into rounds before being dried.

Bananas may be used in inter-alia salads, sandwiches, soups, stews, fries, desserts, cakes, breads and muffins. In fact the banana's culinary versatility is possibly greater than that of any other fruit or vegetable.