Playing a strong hand
Sadly, most bananas at this time of year are destined for a morning smoothie. Or if they’ve been forgotten for a few days or frozen for a few months, they might turn up as the hero ingredient in one of the most-represented dishes of the Covid-19 lockdown: banana bread.
Bananas have held a very strong position in many cultures’ cuisines. Plantains, a starchier relative of the banana, which are thought to have originated in SouthEast Asia, are used in cooking and are central to many traditional Caribbean dishes.
Through genetic selection, bananas have become the easy-eating little nutrient bombs we know today. Cooking with modern-genus bananas, such as lady fingers, can be walking a fine line. The mushy texture can be offputting if the application or technique is not a good fit.
These lady finger bananas came from Conscious Ground Organics, located just inland from Byron Bay.
This holistic farming education facility features a section dedicated to a syntropic system, which draws on a diverse range of plants harvested at different times and for different purposes, such as for food or timber, over a short, medium and long term. Banana production can be very pesticideheavy, so it’s a treat to see them being grown organically.
Even though the fate of these bananas was effectively the same as ending up in a smoothie, I do love the final pancakes. The subtle spice and gentle sweetness makes for a lighter version of the more commonly found pancakes with banana. I can eat my version in the morning without the inevitable food coma that occurs from the regular alternative.
If you are so inclined, do make your own kefir cream. The sourness is a big part of what balances the flavour of this dish. If you are pushed for time, a storebought
• kefir cream, or even yoghurt, will work fine.