[Sca-cooks] plantain, bananas, herbals

[Sharon Palmer]

>>On Sep 1, 2009, at 11:33 PM, David Friedman wrote:
>>
>>>>...all species of the Musa genus are indigenous to the tropical 
>>>>region of Southeast Asia. It's thought (again, citing Wikipedia) 
>>>>that Portuguese Franciscan friars are responsible for bringing 
>>>>the plantain to the Americas. FROM Africa.
>>>>
>>>>So, if that is accurate information (and yes, I know that's a BIG 
>>>>IF), that argues that plantains are Period for Southeast Asia, 
>>>>Africa, and the cute little territory that lies between them 
>>>>(Near East).
>>>
>>>I don't follow that. The are period for Southeast Asia. They may 
>>>be period for Africa, if the friars brought them to the Americas 
>>>from there before 1600. But how does that make them period for the 
>>>Near East?
>>
>>Because the plantain had to make it from Asia to Africa. There are 
>>two ways of doing that: going through the Near East, or going by 
>>sea.
>>
>>The presence of bananas in the Qur'an argues for them going through 
>>the Near East.
>
>We know there were bananas in the near east, because they show up in 
>al-Warraq in the 10th century. That doesn't tell us that there were 
>plantains in the near east. Nor does it tell us that plantains, 
>which are a different plant although related, got from Asia to 
>Africa  via the Near East, rather than by the sea route across the 
>Indian Ocean.
>
A savory dish with a banana type fruit sounds more like plantain.  Is 
there evidence that sweet bananas are meant?  This is out of my area 
of expertise, but are early bananas as sweet as current ones?

Sharon