# God should have made more banana-like fruits. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103 "2005-04-19T18:54:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/21 "2005-04-20T02:48:56Z")
> [@PsychoBabble](#): > > Man, God really let one slip by him when he didn’t make any other banana like fruit. I think he had one eye on Woman when he didn’t create any more banana-like fruits. That or he didn’t want to put Anne Summers out of business. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/22 "2005-04-20T03:14:21Z")
Then why did He create the cucumber, the carrot, and, God help me, the eggplant? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/23 "2005-04-20T04:10:41Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > Then why did He create the cucumber, the carrot, and, God help me, the eggplant? He’s essentially pro anti-trust and anti-monopolies in any given field, including the vegetable field. Regarding veggies, some of these objects are not every woman’s cup of tea, unless you clean them and parboil them first. And that would have the unwanted effect of reducing the libido of all but the most hyper-sexual woman (granting that some exist, despite Andrea Dworkin’s pronouncements). Another advantage of the banana, of course, not already mentioned, is that it comes with a built-in condom, so it’s state-of-the-art as far as safe sex goes. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/24 "2005-04-20T04:28:10Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > You MUST try banana pudding soon. Or, as my husband calls it, nanner pudding. You’ll find a recipe on most boxes of vanilla wafer cookies. You can just use some instant vanilla or banana cream pudding instead of making the pudding from scratch, if you want, but the “from scratch” recipe is better. > > Bananas are very good when sliced over cold cereal (pour the cereal into the bowl, slice a banana over it, THEN pour on the milk) as well as in banana nut bread. If you want to try making the banana nut bread yourself, some supermarkets sell overripe bananas by the bagful. > > Enjoy your new food. Mmmm, I just made some instant banana pudding the other night and FROZE it! It has been a delicious creamy cold dessert over the last few evenings, lighter than ice cream and just as yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/25 "2005-04-20T06:02:00Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > Anyway, I may just be reading to much Jared Diamond, but my bet is God didn’t make bananas, we did. Just as we made inch and a half sized strawberries. And people think genetic engineering is a new thing. Very true. What we think of as a banana is really the seed pod of the banana tree. In a wild banana, it’s packed with golf ball sized seeds, with just a bit of mushy stuff surrounding them. The plants we eat are triploid, meaning they have three copies of every chromosome instead of two. This means that they’re unable to sexually reproduce, because you can’t split the chromosome up evenly during meiosis. Thus, the seeds spontaneously abort early during development, and the pod fills with the mush instead. Those little black specks you see in bananas are really seed abortuses. The more you know… And, yes, I realize no one reading this cares. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/26 "2005-04-20T06:11:36Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Bananas are unable to sexually reproduce, because you can’t split the chromosome up evenly during meiosis. Thus, the seeds spontaneously abort early during development, and the pod fills with the mush instead. Those little black specks you see in bananas are really seed abortuses. Will Pope Adolf I eat them, I wonder, given that the plant has apostated twofold, first by the sin of Onan and secondly by abortion? Threefold, actually, now that I think about it, as its the first fail-safe 100% guaranteed money-back-if-you’re-not-satisfied prophylactic. And, don’t put yourself down, that was the most interesting thing I read today since coming back from lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/27 "2005-04-20T07:31:43Z")
Just yesterday I had a smoothie made of lemon, banana, and coconut milk. It sure tasted right. (My “location” here at the SDMB used to be “Afghanistan Banana Stand” before I closed it down and moved to Bracebridge Hall.) ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/28 "2005-04-20T10:37:37Z")
Banana cake is the yummiest! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/29 "2005-04-20T15:14:22Z")
Here’s a cute link I stumbled across while trying to find out how much potassium is in a banana: [http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/10/18/the\_amazing\_banana.htm](http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/10/18/the_amazing_banana.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/30 "2005-04-20T16:00:08Z")
Weird, I was never allergic to bananas until about 3 years ago, and then had a real banana milkshake that doubled me over in stomach pain. Ever since then, everytime I eat anything when banana in it, it causes the same reaction. Apparently, you have sent your allergy my way! ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/31 "2005-04-20T16:57:52Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Very true. What we think of as a banana is really the seed pod of the banana tree. In a wild banana, it’s packed with golf ball sized seeds, with just a bit of mushy stuff surrounding them. The plants we eat are triploid, meaning they have three copies of every chromosome instead of two. This means that they’re unable to sexually reproduce, because you can’t split the chromosome up evenly during meiosis. Thus, the seeds spontaneously abort early during development, and the pod fills with the mush instead. Those little black specks you see in bananas are really seed abortuses. > > The more you know… > > And, yes, I realize no one reading this cares. I do! I care! I’m fascinated. Not the least because I’ve learned the most sexual (read:phallic) of fruits is actually asexual…poor things. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/32 "2005-04-20T18:05:06Z")
I love bananas. I do like 4-5 hour bike rides on Saturdays, and my breakfast is peanut butter toast with banana slices on it. I’ll bring 1-2 bananas with me on the ride, and they are the BEST fuel over any eloctrolyte drink or power bar. They’re easy to carry neatly and get into. You instantly seem to get the energy of it. And, you don’t mind throwing away the wrapper. 😃 To the OP: try it for breakfast. Peanut butter on toast, with sliced banana. Oh man, I almost wish I was you so I could re-experience the banana all over again. Banana bread, banana in cereal, banana cream pudding. “Chunky Monkey” Ben & Jerries. Jesus, man, I wouldn’t leave the house for the next 6 months if I just found out I wasn’t allergic to bananas. Recent banana tale: I had the brainstorm one day of hanging the “knob” of the banana bunch on the edge of a shelf. Try it. You’d be surprised at how nicely they balance, no matter how many there are. Problem is they would fall to the counter if you brushed up against them. Aside: one day I was in this antique shop and saw this little cast iron monkey with one long arm up and one long arm down with curved hands at the ends. She had little nipples and a round belly, probably from eating too many bananas. The overall effect is that of an elongated ‘S’ with a bulge in the middle (that being the monkey’s head, torso and feet). If you recall the game “Barrel of Monkeys” she looks like those plastic monkeys, but about 7" long and HEAVY. I used to hang a belt from her, and I use to hand her on the end of a stick I have in my house and try to grab the dog’s collar with it, but recently she’s just been sitting in a drawer. Back to the bananas falling from the shelf. Somehow it dawned on me one day – and this was one of those ideas where the inspiration is so clear and from out of nowhere that it could only be Divinity – that that monkey could hold the bunch of bananas with his hook hands. Not only would this cure the problem of the bananas falling, but it would give the monkey something to do AND it would be so cool that I’d always want to have bananas at home. Not to mention, IT’S A MONKEY! Needless to say, the idea worked to perfection. The monkey hangs from the shelf, holding the bananas in his down-stretched arm, but he also hangs from a kitchen cabinet knob. I love bananas. The perfect fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/33 "2005-04-20T18:18:33Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > Toast two slices of bread. While that’s working, peel a banana, take a bite, then drop the rest in a bowl and mush it up with a fork. When the bread is done, slather one slice with CREAMY peanut butter, smear your mushed up nanner on the other slice, and slap’em together. After every bite make sure you lick around the edges of the sammich to catch the overflow. > > Nummy. I think I’ll have a quick snack before I go to bed. You forgot the crumbled bacon. No pb and banana sandwich is complete w/o the crumbled bacon bits. They’re even better if fry them instead of toasting them. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/34 "2005-04-21T01:52:31Z")
And did you know that if you put them in the refrigerator when they start to get freckles, they will keep for several days? The skins will turn brown but the meat does not. I was told once, too, that you can freeze them (without the skin) but I haven’t tried that as I’m too impatient to wait for the thaw. Maybe I could nuke them? And then when I finish my daily 'nana, I put the peel (along with other miniscule food waste that won’t insinkerate) in the freezer until I make a run to the Dumpster. But why, oh why, can’t they synthesize them or find a way to keep them from spoiling so fast (other than my system)? I hate having to go to the store every week just to replenish my daily “fix” (and yogurt). ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/35 "2005-04-21T02:05:15Z")
> [@H0CKEY](#): > > I like the flavor. I also like them fried, baked (banana bread), or pureed (smoothie). But I can NOT eat a raw banana. It’s a consistency thing. ::gag:: I’m just the opposite; I love bananas raw but the thought of eating them cooked (banana bread, banana pudding ) makes me retch. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/36 "2005-04-21T02:55:56Z")
**Smeghead** : Well, I’ll be horsewhipped. I’ve known for years that the little black flecks in a banana were seeds, but I always assumed that they were viable. Do they propagate banana trees by cuttings, then? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/37 "2005-04-21T03:39:59Z")
Sliced bananas in custard is pretty good. Loved it as a kid. Then there’s the good old banana sandwich - mashed bananas used as a filling, and sprinkled with brown sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/38 "2005-04-21T03:56:58Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > **Smeghead** : Well, I’ll be horsewhipped. I’ve known for years that the little black flecks in a banana were seeds, but I always assumed that they were viable. Do they propagate banana trees by cuttings, then? or is it through _Bananas Gone Wild_ ? Seriously, how do Bananas Get It On, so to speak? And how does a doper who is ironically named **Smeghead** know so much about Banana spooje?\*/\*\* - we wish it tasted like bananas. \*\*Banana Spooje would be a great band name. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/39 "2005-04-21T05:50:07Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > **Smeghead** : Well, I’ll be horsewhipped. I’ve known for years that the little black flecks in a banana were seeds, but I always assumed that they were viable. Do they propagate banana trees by cuttings, then? Yup. > [@](#): > > And how does a doper who is ironically named Smeghead know so much about Banana spooje? I was capable of retaining, say, 10% of the information I heard in my college genetics classes. My brain decided this bit of trivia was going to be included for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103/40 "2005-04-21T13:53:53Z")
Bananas trees are propagated by rhizomes. > [@](#): > > Main Entry: rhi·zome > Pronunciation: 'rI-"zOm > Function: noun > Etymology: New Latin rhizomat-, rhizoma, from Greek rhizOmat-, rhizOma mass of roots, from rhizoun to cause to take root, from rhiza root – more at ROOT > : a somewhat elongate usually horizontal subterranean plant stem that is often thickened by deposits of reserve food material, produces shoots above and roots below, and is distinguished from a true root in possessing buds, nodes, and usually scalelike leaves Many other plants, such as the immensely important hop plant, are cultivated using rhizomes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-should-have-made-more-banana-like-fruits/300103.md?page=3)