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Java Blue Bananas that taste like Ice Cream


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Has anybody in the Chapala area seen these really cool looking blue bananas that allegedly taste just like vanilla ice cream.  I would love to have one but I have not been successful in finding them for sale in Mexico on-line.  You can easily order them in the States from nurseries in Florida but can't seem to find them here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ice-cream-bananas_us_55f8d911e4b0d6492d638853

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So there is nobody here that has seen these in any of the nurseries or perhaps at somebody's house.  They sound really cool, blue bananas that taste like vanilla ice cream.   They aren't new, apparently they have been around since the 20's in Hawaii at least.  And now they are starting to sell a lot of them in the nurseries in the States.  I wonder how easy it would be to smuggle down a small rhizome.  If I wash all the dirt out of it and just wrap it up in a wet paper towel I wonder if I would get into much trouble if caught at the border, or would they just probably confiscate it and send me on my way?  And what about cuttings of certain plants just wrapped up in paper towels and brought down in a car?  I know I can order many seeds and they will ship down here, but many plants don´t grow from seeds.  Any ideas of how to get one of these?

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I too have a love for the exotics. Many are what they claim - but cannot fit into "our" (their) food distribution chains, they go rotten/unripe too quickly, or show too many bruises. Beefsteak tomatoes and fresh picked sweet corn are easy examples. If only grown from roots/cuttings the proper way would a tissue culture tube (no soil) and phytosanitary paperwork. You would probably also require a special import permit, free, but takes a couple of weeks to get. Then there is a whole other problem of a courier/carrier. It is controversial as to whether the carriers x-ray packages (killing living tissue and seeds) or not. Estafeta definitely does, possibly multiple times, and clearly states so on their website. I have only had good results with seeds, ordering from Europe and Australia via international mail. This, of course, rules out tissue cultures - takes too long. Other report good results with seeds by mail from China

Hmm - chocolate pudding tree - Black Sapote tree is available here. Only truly tastes like chocolate pudding when you add a small bit of vanilla ice cream, but still a healthy treat. Also black bananas are incredible, they are plantains which are allowed to ripen until the skins are black, perfect when a bit of mold starts to form on the skin. Incredible concentrated banana taste, without to much sweetness. The inside secret to a dessert "Bananas Foster", famous world wide, originating in New Orleans, but never the same as Island style - bananas flamed with liqueurs.

We should get together dicho, a lot to share. Would like to get some sort of garden club together, but too dammed lazy.

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4 minutes ago, CHILLIN said:

 Beefsteak tomatoes and sweet corn are a good example.

Sweet corn is grown in Querétaro and available in season, fresh on the cob, in many Mexican supermarkets and tianguis.  There are several brands, including Mr. Lucky.

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On 11/17/2016 at 5:20 PM, dichosalocura said:

Has anybody in the Chapala area seen these really cool looking blue bananas that allegedly taste just like vanilla ice cream.  I would love to have one but I have not been successful in finding them for sale in Mexico on-line.  You can easily order them in the States from nurseries in Florida but can't seem to find them here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ice-cream-bananas_us_55f8d911e4b0d6492d638853

I have seen bananas like this at the Chapala market,Walmart and Soriana. they get over ripe quicker than regular but if you buy them too green it seems they never ripen.They taste best when they're slightly green.I like them because they're sweeter than regular bananas but i've never thought of them tasting like vanilla ice cream.

 

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Well Chillin, you mentioned the black sapote, I do have one of those I planted two years ago, still waiting to get some fruit on it though.  I also have lychee, guanabana, Surinam cherry, miracle fruit, and pitahaya to name a few of my exotics.  With bananas, I have just the Jamaican Red, which is delicious.  When we first bought the house, it was producing huge long bananas, two years ago it got so out of control we trimmed it down, got rid of all the tall older stalks.  I guess it was pissed and didn't give us any bananas for a year and half, now we are getting a few again, but they are really small like the dominican bananas, but the sugar content is more concentrated so they are extremely sweet tasting.

Ned Small, you say you've seen these Java Blue bananas in the Chapala tianguis and at Soriana.  I have yet to come across them, but I will keep my eyes open, thanks for the heads up.

A few weeks ago I saw some black sapote chocolate pudding tree fruit for sale in the Chapala tianguis, and I bought a couple.  They are good but better when you mix a little powdered sugar in them.  In ice cream they do taste a lot like chocolate.

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Dicho:

I just moved and now have a surinam cherry tree on my front terrace and i am loving those. I haven't had those since I lived in Hawaii. Also, in Hawaii, we had the "ice cream bananas" but they were not blue. Ned Small, you questioned the ice cream quality, and I found that it was in the creamy texture that differed from ordinary bananas.

I am in heaven with the surinam cherry tree. A  handful a day keeps the doctor away.

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  • 2 years later...
On 11/21/2016 at 8:33 PM, mudgirl said:

What they call black sapote is actually a form of persimmon.

No, black sapote is not a form of persimmon.  They are 2 very different plants and 2 different species in the same genus.  As the potato and eggplant are 2 species in the Solanum genus. The potato is not a form of the eggplant.

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Black sapote might be a form of the persimmon, but I believe they are in the same family and a distant relative would be the avocado.  I am still looking for those blue java bananas.  I recently saw a video that they are growing them happily in Costa Rica now.  Hopefully, they will make it to Mexico soon.  I have the red Surinam Cherries, they taste really sour and turpentine like.  But if you get the black variety (available on mercado libre) they are supposed to be much sweeter.  Talking about cherries, I ordered a Jamaican cherry tree last summer on mercado libre.  The fruit is supposed to taste like a cross between cotton candy and sugar cubes and be very juicy with very fine strawberry like seeds and to produce year round. Check it out.  Mine is just going into the flower stage, later I will reveal how the fruit really is.

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13 hours ago, dichosalocura said:

Black sapote might be a form of the persimmon, but I believe they are in the same family and a distant relative would be the avocado.  I am still looking for those blue java bananas.  I recently saw a video that they are growing them happily in Costa Rica now.  Hopefully, they will make it to Mexico soon.  I have the red Surinam Cherries, they taste really sour and turpentine like.  But if you get the black variety (available on mercado libre) they are supposed to be much sweeter.  Talking about cherries, I ordered a Jamaican cherry tree last summer on mercado libre.  The fruit is supposed to taste like a cross between cotton candy and sugar cubes and be very juicy with very fine strawberry like seeds and to produce year round. Check it out.  Mine is just going into the flower stage, later I will reveal how the fruit really is.

Sapote and persimmon are in the genus Diospyros, family Ebenaceae.  They are not related to avocados which are in the family Lauraceae.

 

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18 hours ago, bdmowers said:

No, black sapote is not a form of persimmon.  They are 2 very different plants and 2 different species in the same genus.  As the potato and eggplant are 2 species in the Solanum genus. The potato is not a form of the eggplant.

"Diospyros nigra, the black sapote, is a species of persimmon. Common names include chocolate pudding fruit, black soapapple and zapote prieto. The tropical fruit tree is native to eastern Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and into Colombia. The common name sapote refers to any soft, edible fruit. Wikipedia

Family: Ebenaceae

Scientific name: Diospyros nigra

Higher classification: Persimmons

Rank: Species"

The fact is, a black sapote looks exactly like a persimmon, except for the color. An eggplant looks nothing like a potato, altho they are in the same genus of plants.

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/17/2016 at 5:20 PM, dichosalocura said:

Has anybody in the Chapala area seen these really cool looking blue bananas that allegedly taste just like vanilla ice cream.  I would love to have one but I have not been successful in finding them for sale in Mexico on-line.  You can easily order them in the States from nurseries in Florida but can't seem to find them here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ice-cream-bananas_us_55f8d911e4b0d6492d638853

I have also been looking for these in Mexico. Did you ever find any? Thank you.

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Speaking of bananas, does anyone know where I can buy a Dwarf Cavendish?  Or is there another type of banana / platano  which doesn't get more than 5' tall (1.5 m)  tall?  Need it for a big pot to create some shade around the pool. 

When I lived in the Florida Keys I had some super Dwarf Cavendish, only grew to waist height but they were prolific in bearing fruit.

 

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  • 2 years later...

`This reply is coming in five years later... But in case anyone is still interested and checking on this topic, I'll share this Etsy ad. I don't know if they really grow or grow well from seed. Bananas are best grown from the corm (root mass). I know there are some that have big enough seeds to grow that way, but I wasn't under the impression that the Blue Java or Ice Cream Banana had that big of seeds. Looks interesting though. I know if I were living in Mexico, in the tropics, I would totally wish to add them to my orchard/garden. https://www.etsy.com/listing/552940575/seeds-extremely-rare-semi-dwarf-blue

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We are growing purple sweet potatoes, originally from Okinawa, Japan. Very popular in Hawaii. Outsides are tan, insides are brilliant purple. They are not as sweet as some sweet potatoes, but they apparently taste like chestnut. Very hardy and easy to grow here.The harvest will be in September.

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