Currabinny Cooks: Why you'll never throw another banana away again
Although bananas are not grown commercially in Ireland due to our temperate climate, we do apparently eat five million of them every week, so we are going to loosen up what it means to be local just this once.
Bananas, which are technically herbs and not fruit, grow in tropical regions like the Caribbean where we import most of our bananas from.
The banana industry itself has a long and troubled history of exploitation and poor working conditions, being controlled by just a small handful of companies.
With our insatiable appetite for bananas, there are a number of things we as consumers can do to eat these non-native ‘fruits’ more ethically.
The biggest single thing you can do as a banana eater is choose Fairtrade where possible. Fairtrade bananas are guaranteed to be from smaller farms where workers rights, pay and adequate healthcare is provided.
Currently all our Fairtrade bananas come from just one country — the Dominican Republic, where there is a strong and growing co-operative movement.
Fairtrade is now 20 years in Ireland and we should all be supporting it and urging supermarkets, retailers, shops to support Fairtrade too.
Another thing we can do with bananas is cut down on the throwing away of brown or ‘over-ripe’ bananas. This applies to us as banana consumers and for the businesses selling bananas as well. Our local grocers in Cabra sells their browning bananas a little cheaper and we always pick up a few to make banana bread.
Banana bread is the best use of very ripe bananas, benefitting from the stronger flavour, it is easy to make and keeps very well wrapped in brown paper for a week or so.
Since we began our food journey selling at markets in 2015, we have always featured our very delicious and decadent white chocolate and pecan banana loaf. It has remained as our best selling and most asked for product and recipe. The recipe is included here along with two other simple recipes for using bananas. Frying bananas in a caramel is another brilliant way of using up a bunch of older very ripe bananas.
Overnight oats can have any topping you can imagine but we think they are best topped with bananas, both being good morning sustenance, releasing their energy slowly to get you through the day.
Pecan and WhiteChocolate Banana Loaf
This is our famous banana loaf recipe which has been with us since our very first market. It remains our most popular recipe, which ain’t bad for something as humble as a banana bread.
If someone is coming over to the house for catch-ups, this is our go-to thing to whip up. Visitors will become your best friends after they get their lips around this. A few slices go down a treat with a pot of tea. It’s also full of bananas, so is totally one of your five a day. Also, if you can get your hands on some dried flower petals, sprinkle them over the top, once its done, for extra points.
125g (4½oz) Kerrygold butter, melted
175g (6oz) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp of salt
150g (5oz) caster sugar
2 large, organic eggs
4 small, ripe bananas, mashed
100g (3½oz) good-quality white chocolate, chopped into chunks
60g (2½oz) pecans, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 x 900g (2lb) loaf tin
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Brush the inside of the loaf tin with a bit of melted butter, then dust with flour.
Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter and sugar together.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then whisk in the mashed bananas.
Add the white chocolate, pecans and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three stages, stirring after each addition.
Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1-1¼ hours.
Slide a spatula around the edge of the loaf and leave in the tin to cool.
Now, devour.
Caramelised Fried Bananas
Growing up in Currabinny, this was definitely William’s mother Breda’s go to dessert to be whipped up in a flash.
Last minute desserts were often necessary to avoid total after dinner meltdowns, a sort of momentary distraction before an imminent and very much resented bedtime loomed ever closer.
I’m not sure about the effectiveness of this amount of sugar right before bed but it certainly kept the tantrums to a minimum.
2-4 ripe bananas
½ tsp of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
60g golden caster sugar
25g butter
Double cream to serve
In a large pan, heat the butter, sugar and vanilla extract on a medium heat with a couple of teaspoons of sugar to create a caramel.
Slice the bananas in half lengthways and place cut side down in the caramel.
Cook for a minute or two and when the caramel starts to bubble up, add the butter and stir into the caramel.
Flip the banana slices to give the other side a go and continue to cook for another minute or two until the caramel starts to bubble up.
You can take it off the heat at this stage or if you like your bananas extra soft, turn the heat down and allow to bubble away for another 10 minutes, adding more water and butter as needed.
We like to stir a little cream into the caramel but you can alternatively whisk the cream up and serve a dollop of it on top.
Eat straight away.
Overnight Oats with Tahini and Bananas
Overnight oats are fast becoming our favourite way to eat oats, lighter and less gloopy than traditional porridge which can often feel like a bit of a chore in the morning when your belly hasn’t quite woken up yet. Overnight oats are also handy in that all the preparations are, as the name suggests, done the night before and it is left in the fridge overnight to slowly become smooth, delicate and ready to gobble up.
It is endlessly customisable but we prefer to pair it with that other great morning grab and go staple; the banana.
We also like to prepare this with a sort of sweet, nutty sauce, packed with energy to drizzle on top. This can be made the night before as well, leaving you with just the banana to peel and slice in the morning.
Generally the rule with overnight oats is simple, one part oats to equal parts liquid, which can be anything from water to cows milk or any alternative milk you are fond of (we personally use oat milk for this).
The recipe here is a little different in that we thicken it up with some yoghurt to make a silky, tangy but quite runny overnight oats.
bowls 100g of organic rolled oats
60g of natural yoghurt
100ml of milk (or alternative milk/or water)
Tiny pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp of honey or maple syrup (optional)
60g of tahini 2 tbsp of milk (or alternative such as oat milk)
2 tbsp of maple syrup or honey
Pinch of sea salt
½ tsp of cinnamon To finish:
2 ripe bananas
1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
Combine the oats, yoghurt, milk, salt and honey in a medium size bowl, cover and leave to soften.
To make the sauce, combine all of the ingredients and stir well, cover and leave in the fridge.
Divide the overnight oats in between two bowls, slice the bananas, place on top of the oats, drizzle generously with the tahini sauce and lastly scatter with the toasted sesame seeds.
Enjoy!
