Quote:
Originally Posted by robguz24
That's interesting. I bought these and wasn't able to see the plant they came from. They were labeled Lakatan, but there were also some blue bananas labeled Cardaba, which of course were Ice Cream. However, I found them consistent with the description in the Kepler & Rust book and on this page- Tropical Fruit Blog!: Do you know your banana cultivars? . They also call it Berangan. The Lacatan with a "c" is something different and maybe you're referring to that one? Did the one you're referring to have orangish fruit? If not, then it sounds like it's not the same Lakatan. |
Lacatan or Lakatan is the same plant/fruit. The variety that comes from the Carribean took a Westerly route from the Philippines through Europe and Africa. That is the common Lacatan, which grows 15-18 feet tall. The other variety took the Easterly route to Mexico. This one grows 7-9 feet tall.
Before Marcos implemented nationalistic programs late in his presidency, many nouns contained Spanish letters because, in most cases, they were named by the Spaniards who occupied the Philippines for over 350 years. C, f, j, ņ, q, v, x, and z are absent from the Tagalog alphabet. When Lacatan was named, Spanish was the national language in the Philippines. So, it was spelled with a "c". Although Lacatan is still spelled by some that way, it is now mostly spelled as Lakatan. In regards to the fruit and plant, the 3 Lacatan varieties are virtually the same in taste and color. The differences are in the length of the fruit and the height of the p-stem. The 3 varieties of Lacatan are only distinguished by their original major sources, i.e., Cavite, Davao, and common variety to all the provinces including the first two. I listed them in order of the shortest to the tallest. The fruits of all of them are about the same in diameter, but the first two are a little bit shorter. Their taste is indistinguishable.
As far as my knowledge of Philippine cultivars, I learned about them from my aunt who got two shiploads of bananas twice a week in Manila from Davao. We moved to the Manila permanently in 1950 from Camarines Sur in the Bicol region, and since then until I left for the US in 1966, we would get 2 or 3 bushels of bananas twice a week. I challenge anyone to top the number of varieties of banana that I've tasted. As for what varieties we got regularly, Lacatan is usually is second in numbers to Latundan, and third was Bungulan (green banana very sweet like fig), then Saba. Occasionally, we get Seņorita, Cardaba, Dinorado(Dorado), smaller versions of Seņorita (whose names I now forget) Although the last time I ate Lacatan was in 2004, I'm still quite familiar with the fruit. For example, the pulp color is distinctly a shade of orange-pink and the skin is a shade of orange. In both cases, the colors are a little darker with Philippine Lacatan than in the photos. In your photos, the pulp is white and the skin is pale yellow. The texture is not as mealy as in the picture and definitely not pasty. It is firmer than the banana in the US and the texture is close. It is definitely pleasingly sweeter and tastier than the US bananas. Comparing tastes with other bananas, to me: Lacatan, Seņorita and other derivatives come first; followed by Gros Michelle, true Cavendish, and Latundan and Bungulan (if both are at the right stage of ripeness); then Baby bananas sold in the US, then the rest of the other varieties in the US. I did not mention Saba because it is considered a cooking banana (not plantain) and not usually eaten out of hand. We cook it green or ripe in various dishes or by themselves, boiled, fried or roasted, and preserves.
In my previous post, I mentioned that due to geographical and weather differences, the Lacatan in HI may have a different texture, color and flavor. This is true for mangos. The mangos from FL, Mexico and South America are nowhere near those from the Philippines, even the ones that are labeled Philippine or Manila mangos.