Backstory: When I was a kid, my family lived with one of my mothers co-workers since we could not afford a house of our own. He was a good enough person, but he insisted that we eat a banana every morning. This was okay for a while, but eventually I got tired of them. Luckily he was there to force me to eat one every morning anyways.
Long story short, I can’t stand bananas. The smell of them is enough to make me gag and has been for a long time.
I’ve decided that enough is enough. I remember liking bananas and lord knows they are good for you. It’s time to get back on the yellow horse. Tomorrow I’m going to try the direct approach: buy a banana and eat it.
Anyone else have any suggestions on how to cure me of my ailment?
Perhaps you could make a fruit salad with your favourite fruits and put in a few pieces of banana. The next time you make it, more banana and less other fruits. Etc and so forth.
Make sure it’s a good banana - I like mine within a very small ripeness range. Too green and they’re too hard and no flavour, too ripe and they’re suitable only for banana loaf. But when they’re just right - no black spots yet, maybe just the tiniest hint of green still - they’re just fine.
Even though they are better tasting black, get one that is solid yellow, because I have found that sometimes the color turns me away from eating them. Also, try some toppings like chocolate pudding or peanut butter.
Just wanted to add encouragement. I had the same problem for the longest time. Don’t know where my aversion came from.
I know exactly what you mean about the smell. But several years ago I just gave them a shot - and although I don’t love them as my number one favorite fruit, I like them.
My siblings all worked in the pineapple fields or the pineapple processing plant every summer during high school. So we were never in want of pineapple. Fresh pineapple, canned pineapple-sliced, cubed, or crushed, and pineapple juice.
I pass on the pineapple upside-down cake. ;j ;j ;j :eek:
Throw two bananas in the blender. Add frozen raspberries or some other fruit with a strong flavor. Pour in a tangy juice, like OJ or cranberry. Add a dollop of yogurt or vanilla ice cream. The banana flavor will be there, but hidden under flavors you like. Drink your [del]Ovaltine[/del] B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
Tastes change as people go through their lives. This is a truism my parents always said when kids argued about which foods were yucky. When I was a young kid, I thought grapefruit was hideously bitter. When I was a little older, I discovered that fresh grapefruit at breakfast, with espresso on the side, was the most wonderfully aromatic sensous treat that could be imagined. The bitterness just added a little extra oomph to the flavor.
Bananas are interesting in this regard. I’d always liked them as a kid. When I was in college I remember a conversation where a guy said he’d always enoyed bananas as a kid because it was just like eating candy. Everyone present agreed with this.
Then when I was about 25 when working as a cook I was sent by my boss to a macrobiotic cooking class. Macrobiotic people allow only a narrow range of specific foods (mostly Japanese foods) as good for you and the rest are supposed to be bad for you. I don’t believe many of their claims, but it did affect me and for years I avoided bananas. They repulsed me.
Then a few years ago, raising my own kids and buying bananas for them, I realized that I loved the fruit as much as I ever did. Now when I play the expansion pack of Civilization III and I see bonus map squares with “Tropical fruit” (meaning extra food on that square), it’s a picture of bananas and I can never play that game without craving bananas.
I had another friend in college who discovered that bananas fried in butter with honey poured over them are “the sweetest thing you ever tasted!” I still make this recipe, and I add a pinch of cardamom. Yum yum.
Thanks for all the ideas. The direct approach worked. Got myself buzzed up on my favorite mocha and some coffee cake. Then I grabbed the banana, peeled it and ate it. Worked like a charm.
Easily half my problem was the anticipation of having a problem. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, no more problems.
