Which end to you peel an bannana from?

In My Humble Opinion
1

In the UK, it seems that most people peel a bannana by breaking the stalk end and eating said fruit towards the rounded end. I have heard that many other peoples around the planet do it the other way. Having tried both - i have to say that i prefer peeling from the rounded end. Its easyer, doesnt mash up the end of the bannana if the fruit is not quite ripe yet, AND you get a free handle to hold your snack with.

How do YOU do it and why? Have you ever changed? Can we see a pattern between countries?

Sin

2

I’ve only seen bananas eaten from the stem end on down…Until I saw my co worker from China. She used the stem as a “handle.”

Much delightful cross cultural discussion occured.

She never considered the other way and I never considered her way.
She now eats them from the stem down…

BTW I’m midwest USA.

3

I must be dense as I can’t even visualize eating a banana from the “rounded” end.

How do you open it?

Obviously I’m a stalk breaker.

4

Break stalk.

Remove entire peel, including those little stringy things.

Eat.

5

I used to start at the stalk end, and had never considered another way. When I saw the other method being used I was an instant convert. Now I always start from the non stalk end.

6

The waiter brings it on a banana plate and I use the banana knife and banana fork at the place setting. I have no idea how the cook peels it.

7

One: Compromise the structural integrity of the peel at the base of the stem by slitting with a thumbnail. An attempt to use force alone to crack open the stem often results in excessive mush.

Two: Peel skin off most of the way down the 'nana in three or four ‘leaves’, pick off any icky stringy bits.

Three: eat 'nana by biting chunks off the peeled end, no not break off pieces with fingers (like a ponce) – do not chomp off unpeeled portion (like a chimp). Last piece out of the peel is plucked out, eat if not black and mushy.

Four: (later) Clean blacked banana residue out from under thumbnail. Alternatively use a knife for step one.

8

I bite my nails so I have no thumbnail to use. And even if I did, why would I want to “dirty” myself when the stalk breaking method works fine and I stay clean?

9

Ahaaa - this is my point ! i think most of us in the west are stalk breakers, but once you see the light you realise we have been doing it wrong !

I was just like you once BwanaBob, it seemed ridiculous. I laughed when they said try it. The non stalk end is much softer you see. All you do is tear accross the very end - like the end of a ketchup sachet and it just works.

I bite my nails SClanger - i have no thumb nail to use as a cutting tool, so used to end up with a mushy stalk more often.

Sin

10

I hope this thread doesn’t cause a Lilliputian war. :rolleyes:
(Obscure literary reference) :dubious:

11

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title.

I open mine on the convenient end.

12

One time mine came on a friggin’ plantain plate, if you can believe that. Cook said it wasn’t her fault, but I let her go anyway. Sheesh.

13

My mom recently learned the bottom-end method, and insists it’s far superior, but I’ve yet to figure out how to do it. So I still open at the top end. But then, my mom eats a lot more bananas than I do, too.

(Both of us were born and raised in the US of A, by the way, if you’re keeping score.)

14

Before this gets more confusing, please keep with “stem end”, not “top”. On the banana plant the “stem” is toward the bottom of the banana.

I peel from the stem, but am willing to reconsider.

15

I don’t see a General Question here, rather a poll.

So, off to IMHO.

samclem GQ moderator

16

  1. Wait until banana turns mostly black.

  2. Holding banana by the convex side in the right hand, grasp the stem with the left hand.

  3. Unzip one section of peel all the way down to the base.

  4. Grasping peel by open edges, dump banana flesh into bowl and mush it up with a fork.

  5. Make banana bread.

17

This sort of thing never happens as an isolated incident; did you check her references when she entered your employment?

18

I peel from the stub end and use the stem end as a handle, and I preen with superiority as I do it. :stuck_out_tongue:

19

You mean you’re supposed to peel them? I need my roughage.
By the way, bananas are “fingers” and they come in “hands”. (No cite, sorry)

20

I peel mine from the top down. Like my women.

Although bottom up is nice, too. :smiley: