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Originally Posted by floridagrower
These look pretty awesome. Any comments on the flavor?
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I haven't had 'Bitambi' specifically, but I have had many other East African Highland Bananas and they are all relatively similar. In East Africa, they are always cooked when green, they are soft though and come out something like mashed potatoes (called matooke). Many foreigners do not like it...I liked it so much I'm growing my own here! As a dessert banana (which goes against all tradition, but I highly recommend it), they are normally sweet and soft with noticeably more moisture than most other bananas, almost juicy. They also tend to have a complex, and very likable flavor.
In a small taste test study I did with one EAHB among some other well liked varieties (Cavendish, Brazilian, Namwah, Niyarma Yik), the EAHB ('Enyoya' specifically) did very well as a dessert fruit and was rated very high.
Quote:
Originally Posted by floridagrower
As an aside, I was watching some tv program the other day that was in Africa, near Somalia. The locals had a staple banana tree there that was a tall variety and had a very dark/black trunk. The leaves were green. Perhaps this is the "Hawaiian Black" type?
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It had to have been one of the 80-90 EAHB varieties which are common and widespread throughout the region. Most varieties have some black in the pseudostem, some are solid black. These varieties have a very long history in the region having been cultivated continuously and in high amounts for at least the past 4000 years. It certainly was not a Hawaiian banana.
I think many hobbyists and small scale growers would enjoy the Highland bananas, but they are not so common outside of East Africa. I have a few cultivars but due to a few constraints cannot easily distribute them.