# Which side do you peel a banana from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 29, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071 "2004-08-29T08:03:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/1 "2004-08-29T08:03:50Z")
Eating a particularly fine specimen just now reminded me that in China, people peel their bananas from the end opposite the stem whereas everybody I know in Australia prefers to peel it from the end closest to the stem. Is this a cultural thing? which end do you prefer? ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/2 "2004-08-29T08:05:59Z")
I don’t get it. Don’t you pull on the stem to get it started? How do you do it from the non-stem end? You would need a knife or something, right? Why go to all that extra work. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/3 "2004-08-29T08:19:32Z")
Well, if the Chinese are anything like me… I like my bananas a little riper than most folks here in the US of A (to the point that people often express pity over my eating a “rotten” banana and try to take it away from me and give me a “fresh” (translated, underripe and unpleasant to eat). I peel from the stem, just because the stem makes a natural handle to grab the peel by. However, when a banana is ripe enough for the Mango it’s fairly easy to split the seams at just about any point along its length, so I can see peeling it from the “wrong” end. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/4 "2004-08-29T08:27:14Z")
as far as I can gather, peeling from the non-stem end involves splitting the seam using a fingernail and then peeling segments. I guess the easiest way to find out is to just try it out for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/5 "2004-08-29T11:55:36Z")
The _ **outside!!** _ Sheesh. I’ve never even \*\*been \*\*inside a banana. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/6 "2004-08-29T13:16:58Z")
I thought the question was going to be do you pull the stem towards the outside of the curve or the inside, it was the only possibility I could think of. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/7 "2004-08-29T14:48:10Z")
[Should you peel bananas from the bottom up?](http://slate.msn.com/id/2067407) makes the question clear and provides some discussion. It also has some good economist jokes, which is why I remembered it. I don’t like bananas. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/8 "2004-08-29T15:42:44Z")
The household of FaerieBeth, one and all, peel our bananas from the stem down. Oh, and I, personally, can never eat a banana by holding on to the bottom of the peel and eating it out of the peel. I always break it off about halfway down and eat the top part first. Then, I remove the rest of the banana and eat it. FB ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/9 "2004-08-29T17:54:12Z")
I never touch the damn things. They are pollinated by bats. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/10 "2004-08-29T18:12:57Z")
The passenger side! Sorry, I realize there was already one smart-ass answer in the thread but that’s the first thing that popped into my head and I felt compelled to post it. And so I am not totally off topic I peel from the stem end, holding the banana in my left and peeling with my right … but never while I’m driving! Sorry! :smack: Oh, and you should always wash your bananas before peeling, especially if you’re worried about bat stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/11 "2004-08-29T19:19:01Z")
I peel my bananas from the non-stem end–I found that bending the stem to peel the banana always mooshes the tip of the banana, and I prefer them un-mooshed. I use my thumbnail to pierce the skin. And I start peeling on the side of the curve. (Imagine the banana as an open-parens with the stem at the bottom; I start at the top on the side facing you.) Note that the previous statements don’t apply to baby bananas or the equivalent, since their skins are tough enough that I need a knife to peel them. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/12 "2004-08-29T21:04:02Z")
I should point out here that the non-stem end is actually the bottom of the banana. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/13 "2004-08-29T21:46:48Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#): > > I should point out here that the non-stem end is actually the bottom of the banana. Actually, the stem end is the bottom of the banana. [Banana bunches](http://www.zingano.com/Photos/Grenada%20Jan%2003/Banana%20bunch.jpg) grow “upside-down” from what we normally think of as the “correct” orientation. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/14 "2004-08-29T23:14:53Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Banana bunches grow “upside-down” . Bats hang upside down, too. I rest my case. Bat germs. Yuck. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/15 "2004-08-29T23:16:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Bats hang upside down, too. > I rest my case. > Bat germs. Yuck. > 🙂 He’s worried about bats but not “de deadly black tarant’la”… _sigh_ What’s the world coming to? ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/16 "2004-08-29T23:25:57Z")
I started peeling my bananas from the non-stem end after reading an article in Yale Magazine (my father subscribes; he’s an alumnus) about two Yale economists who share an uncommon talent for looking at everyday practices and imagining them being done differently. One of the examples these guys mention is peeling bananas from the non-stem end, which they claim is also the method used by monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/17 "2004-08-30T00:09:15Z")
I eat 1/2 a banana on my cereal. The other half my wife eats or if she’s not at home, I finish the other 1/2 the next day\*. So **I peel my bananas from the middle.** - [sub]I just cut off the brown part[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/18 "2004-08-30T01:23:37Z")
Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who immediately thought _outside_. “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/19 "2004-08-30T06:26:13Z")
> [@biqu](#): > > \… an uncommon talent for looking at everyday practices and imagining them being done differently. \ Then there’s that scene in _Species_ where the alien (whatever her name was…) began gnawing at the banana at the middle, skin on. I guess nothing is intuitive if you’ve never seen one before. I have heard arguments taht the stem makes a nice handle for kids. I have also noticed monkeys at the zoo using the stem as a handle. But with them there is not a whole lot of peeling happening. And IIRC the bananas were already cut in half which kind of alters that parameters a bit. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-do-you-peel-a-banana-from/262071/20 "2004-08-31T02:58:04Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > He’s worried about bats but not “de deadly black tarant’la”… _sigh_ What’s the world coming to? You are no doubt refering to my little spider buddy. She could sit on your thumbnail before the Tragic Accident. **WARNING** : link below has a picture of a cute itty bitty spider. Here is the story of the Tragic Accident: > **[My spider buddy drowned](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260075)** > > She’d been hopping around the office all week, shortly after I blundered across her picture on the web: Friday she was on my desk and was trying to get into the PC box. Saturday I found her at the bottom of the...