Can you think of any other fruits with rinds like bananas?
Although bananas originated in Southeast Asia, namely, Papua New Guinea, these plants thrive all across the world, especially in Africa. In Nigeria, I see street vendors selling these fruits nearly every time I step outside. And, when it is time to eat, almost every menu at a restaurant or auntie in the kitchen will offer a meal with fried plantains. Similar to bananas, plantains are fruits of Musa plants, the same genus to which banana plants belong. Unlike bananas, however, people typically fry or roast plantains before eating them. This meal is called dodo in Nigeria. In contrast, bananas do not require any cooking to eat and enjoy their sweet flavor. Not only are bananas and fried plantains a sweet treat, but they’re a funny one too, as I recently discovered the history behind the banana peel joke in slapstick comedy. Apparently, with the rapid increase in banana imports to the United States, there is an increased littering of banana peels in the streets of cities enjoying this new exotic delicacy like New York. These banana peels, when left out for too long, can create a slippery mess. Slapstick comedy may have exaggerated this issue, but it is still a very real problem when playing Mario Kart!
Bananas and plantains grow in humid tropical and subtropical regions of the world like Nigeria. In 2022, Nigeria was the fourth–leading country producing bananas. In 2014 alone, sub-Saharan Africa produced 38 million tons of bananas.
