What the heck am I eating?
 

The banana lady from whom I buy hands of fruit at the weekend market tells me they're called "Lime Bananas" and is reluctant to say anything more. They're a sort of sick yellow-green colour outside when they're ripe, and the flesh is bright pink, acidic, and refreshing. The shape is reminiscent of Orinocos, but the flavour is completely different.



So, what am I eating? I suspect it's Monticristis, but I'd love a confirmation.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Any seeds?

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

wow, interesting, Beth. I'd love to see a photo of the flesh when you get a chance.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

No seeds. Dessert / Cooking type. Tomorrow when I open up the ripest one I'll take a pic of the flesh, cross-sectional (not longitudinal, though, it's going on my fruit salad.) Looking at the hand, one finger appears to have monkey damage, which helps me limit the places it could have come from.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

I want a pup! :ha:

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

I have to find out what they are, first, lol! Then I'll know where to go looking for them.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Just being proactive! I want to be first on the list! ;)

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

just curious..how can you tell if the fruit has been damaged specifcally by a monkey????

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Take a picture of the whole salad too(it's getting close to my first lunch time).

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

LOL! First lunch...you sound like me. I usually take 3 or 4 lunches and 2 dinners.

Beth, make me #2 on the list! And a pic of monkey damage would be cool ( only monkeys around here are running around in my house with blankies and at the zoo).

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Maybe he sent his portrait??? :ha:

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Unfortunately, I turfed the affected fingers. Next time I've got monkey damage, though, I'll take a pic to show y'all. I can tell it's monkey, as opposed to Huanchaka or Tree Rat, because of the way the peel is affected. Possums and rodents go for the middle of the fruit first, and monkeys start at the tip; they basically bite that most of the way off and then work on peeling up the fruit, so you get a finger with bite marks at the tip or the tip partially knawed off, and partially peeled up the length of the fruit, with smaller bite marks thereafter.

Harvey, Squirrel Monkeys are usually the culprits, so right on!

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

OK, pursuant to the whole "What The Heck Am I Eating" thing, here's what they look like inside.



You can actually see a touch of monkey damage on the tip of the unpeeled section - they look like little nibbles, and there's a hand-mark there as well.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Gosh Lorax - they do look interesting and yummy!! I love different stuff (technical term!). Amazing pinky/orange flesh!

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Beth,

You mentioned in your opening post on this banana that the fruit looked reminesent of 'Orinoco'; the flesh certainly looks like what my 'Orinoco' looks like. Do that have to be very ripe before they can just be peeled and eaten like 'Orinoco' does?

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Nope. They peel beautifully even when they're green and semigreen, and I actually prefer the flavour when they're a sort of half-ripe lemony colour. When they're very very ripe (ie full yellow) I consider that they're only good for cooking again, maduro style; I'd never consider eating one at that stage because the flavour becomes cloying.

The thing that makes me think they aren't Orinocos is the way the bunch that the banana lady cut them off of looked - it wasn't characteristically spiky, and these fruits have a bit more recurve than I'm used to in Orinocos. (and they were being sold ripe, which Orinocos never are here; they're called a Plantain, and the seller clearly referred to these as Bananas.)

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Those remind me of the Fe'i nanners gabe showed us pics of in another thread....I'll try to find it.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Yeah, but Fe'i have bright red skins and orange flesh, Shaggy. I'd be astounded if I found them here.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Good call beth, I thought green..... too much spring fever on the brain to think any other color atm.

Re: What the heck am I eating?
 

Yeah, I didn't really think they looked too much like Orinocos from the outside appearance. It was only the color and texture of the flesh I thought looked similar.

You sound like me; on store-bought bananas I prefer them with a little green left on the peel. Once they start getting the little brown spots on them I can't hardly eat them. It's exactly as you said: too cloying. Ich! However, I love my Orinocos for cooking when green or just eating when they are fully ripe. To me they taste great then.