Well, it took a whole year for this bunch to ripen. I hope this won't be standard time for bananas to ripen in my yard!
Here's the bunch after removing a hand or two (which were fully mature and ripened well up to at least month earlier than those left on the plant):
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They were excellent cooked ripe. Just browned in a bit of butter with a sprinkle of salt. Did the same thing for comparison with a couple of ripe plantains from the store (don't know what kind, sorry Keith and Nick). To me and my wife, Orinoco was better. Nice tart, almost apple flavor and nice light texture, as compared to less brightness (no acid) and more sticky, sweet potato-like texture of the plantains. But I wasn't raised on plantains, so sorry if what I just wrote was blasphemous.
Plantain on left, Orinoco on right:
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Before cooking:
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Raw, as a dessert banana, I'd still rather eat a regular old supermarket Cavendish than Orinoco. The flavor is good, but the squishy, fluffy texture when fully ripe isn't my favorite. But I'd rather eat them on my cereal than no bananas!
