Best Tasting Cavendish
 

Hi everyone,
I just have a quick question: based on personal experience, what would you say is the best tasting member of the Cavendish subgroup i.e. Gran Nain, Dwarf Cavendish, Vallery, Williams etc.? From everything I've gleaned, Gran Nain is considered by most to be "over-commercialized" like Williams (best for commercial growing, but not necessarily best tasting). Thanks! :lurk:

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

The best cavendish is the one you got in your hand !
I will say this … My Cavendish (dwarf) + (normal) taste so much different than any store bought banana I sometimes wonder if the store bought stuff is real! Then there is a guy who lives in a condo with about 40 square feet of front yard, he got Cavendish growing there for a few years now. I beg him for his fruit .. They are that good!!! Williams also taste pretty darn good. But I bet no one can say that any one of them is the best because of personal taste And where they grow seems to make a considerable difference in taste .. I've even heard people say leaving PUP's on the plant wile it's fruiting makes a difference in flavor..

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

@trebor Thanks! I guess home grown anything can taste substantially better than supermarket stuff. I didn't know that so many factors could influence flavor that much. When reading your post, I immediately thought of coffee and how people can taste the difference between Sumatra and Colombian grown coffee because the climates and soils vary enough to notably impact the flavor. Very interesting!

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

I have never tasted any real difference between different Cavendish. Much more important is how long the fruits stayed on the plant and at what stage of ripeness they are at. Also refrigeration can change taste somewhat. 'Grand Nain' homegrown, which is left on the plant longer and not refrigerated will be different tasting from store bought fruit. Genetics of course have an influence on flavor, but in this case, the differences are pretty much all due to cultural practices and handling.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

I've also had several and will say that homegrown just taste better. Cavendish isn't great as far as bananas go, but a homegrown one taste like a banana should. It's the flavor I remembered tasting as a child. Which to this day makes me wonder if something changed about the way they were shipping and handling bananas in the 1990s or perhaps my taste buds got worn out and now I can only taste intense flavor.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

I've only had store bought Grand Nains, store and home grown Williams, and what are called Chinese in Hawaii. Home grown ones picked when the first few turn yellow are better but I haven't been able to bring myself to eat a store Grand Nain in years. None have been "bad", just uninteresting and too mushy for my taste. I keep my Williams because it does so well, the bunches are huge, and it's great for a smoothie where the taste and texture is kind of lost anyway. Whichever variety grows well for you and you like them, well that sounds great!

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

I do not think it is legal to ship the fruit into Puerto Rico, so I will have to trust your opinions. My memory of eating a banana in the 1980's has long been forgotten. I could be happy without ever having to eat another Cavendish again, if I have enough Red's.
Does the Red variety also taste different if bought in a supermarket?
A member here had wrote that Red's have no acidity, so how important is acidity for the flavor of a banana?


The pH level of yellow bananas is 5.0-5.29 & the pH of red bananas is 4.58-4.75.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

Cavendish
Gran Naim
Apple
Green bananas
Plantains
Those are the ones I see here locally in the stores ! Lately the Plantains have been smaller in size and do not have the flavor of the larger ones. As a result I'm eating less of them . I have no idea the names of the larger one in Wall Mart . Perhaps some one knows what Wall Mart has been selling in the last 5 to 6 months ?
I never seen a red in any markets that I can remember ! But Reds are “Good” hahaha

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

In Puerto Rico the market size changes throughtout the year depending on variety and harvest period. They range between 6 oz and 16 oz, a Grade A Plantain is 10 oz & 10 in. In July I have been harvesting Maricongo with the entire sixth hand above 10 oz. I did not think the stores on the mainland would sell anything less than Grade A. If you every get a chance to weigh one, I would be very interested in knowing the weight of an average fruit. It is difficult to judge the weigth by eye, different varieties have very different densities, which also effects cooking.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

weight
8.9
9.4
9.1
8.4
Thats from today and I selected the most ripe largest ..There were plenty smaller ones..

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

That is very small for July, my average this month for false horn is 12.92 oz. If I reduced the amount of hands it would be over 14.
Do they lower the price for the little ones?
The way plantains are sold drives me crazy, here a 6 oz is the same price as a 16 oz. Bananas are sold by the pound but platanos are by unit. If they were sold by the pound the production would increase and prices fall, and people would stop searching for the largest ones.
What is the price in your area?

Grade A is kind of a misnomer, given that fact it is a grade for the smallest marketable fruit. As far as I know it is the only the grade, Grade A or unmarketable.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

I have tasted fruits of both "standard" and improved Cavendish hybrids grown by several people here in San Diego CA. They are better than their grocery store counterparts but still not something I'd grow for myself.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

I like store bought Cavendish

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

Wall Mart here sells the large and small for 33 cents each! Same price for large or small size.. There are a few other small local chain stores here that charge .50 cents a Plantain.
One chain store ALDI has them for .25 each always smaller ones ..
Also in the Hispanic stores here offer the shorter ones (forget the name) I get them when I'm having people over for dinner..

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

I think it is all a personal taste thing. The acidity or "sub-acid" flavor is just a tartness, which I bet has no relationship to actual pH of the fruit. I like that tartness, but I bet others don't. The Mysore cultivars are the most tart of the bananas I've tried and Pisang Mas ("Baby Bananas") is the least -- but some people love both. I think Reds are very good, but I wouldn't choose one over the mort tart Mysore of Brazilian fruits, for example. But that's just my taste preferences. Cavendish don't really have any tartness either, to me anyway.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

One of the best bananas I've had was a Dwarf Cavendish on the side of the road in Bermuda. Big difference from the grocery store stuff to me. The taste difference was night and day.
Bo

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

And to think that people were giving me grief about 5/$1 at the Green Market. Presidente sells some smaller ones really cheap. There is a pretty good price differential on ripe fruit though.

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

VERY limited tasting experience but if I had to pick one it would be Reds!

Re: Best Tasting Cavendish
 

Hey Nick,
Does the size of your plantanos vary much from month to month.
What's a normal weight for you in July?
If you think 50 cents is high, then a dollar would grab your attencion.
If you assume 1/3 of the weight is the skin a 10 oz. fruit for a buck is $2.40 per lb. for the fruit. For me that is insane, but I love it.