Posted by: The Lorax in: ● June 12, 2009
A comparison of four commonly available types of Ecuadorean dessert banana. From left to right, these are: Seda (Silk Plantain, Cavendish type), Limon (we think this is Red Iholene), Maqueño (Gros Michel improved type), and Orito (Sucrier type). Bananas are a very diverse fruit, with hundreds of named cultivars remarkable for different sizes, shapes, colours, and flavours. My personal favourites are the Oritos, which last just two or three bites, and are sweet and firm. I find Seda bananas to be too mealy for eating out of hand, although they’re great for baking. Limons, which have bright pink flesh, are acidic with hints of mandarin and ideal for frying.
The Maqueño is a cultivar I’ve only ever seen in Ecuador - they were produced by crossing the Panama-disease susceptible ‘Gros Michel’ bananas, which used to be a staple of the export trade, with highly resistant Giant Plantains. The fruit of the Maqueño is dryer than a standard Cavendish banana, firm, and sweet without being insipid; the flesh is a pale peachy colour. The examples in this photo are smaller variants of the fruit, normally made available for smaller families; each finger in a typical hand of standard-sized Maqueños (normally destined for restaurant use) is about 10 inches long and weighs about a pound. These are one of the few cultivars that Ecuador does not export, although with their slow ripening time and resistance to bruising, they are ideal for the international trade.
Posted by: The Lorax in: ● December 12, 2008
Guarana, growing in the Amazon below El Coca, Orellana Province. A trailing or climbing vine with striking flowers, Guarana is common to the Amazon basin, especially in Brazil, and are also cultivated for their high-caffeine beans, which are as much as three times higher in caffeine than coffee beans. Guarana is a common additive in energy drinks, and very popular in Peru and Brazil where it is cultivated on a large scale. The Brazillian Guarani tribe give their name to the plant.
