Food Glorious Food: Hello, Banana Blossom...sweet, adaptable and doesn't taste of bananas!

Hello, Banana Blossom. No, this is not a fruity welcome to you, but an appreciation of a rather wonderful ingredient that you may not have come across.

I am always on the lookout for different foods to try, especially when it comes to forms of protein. I am not a vegetarian or a vegan, but I eat much less meat than I ever have done, and I enjoy looking for alternatives.

Banana blossom is one of those different meat-free choices that you may like to try too.

Banana blossom is a bit like jackfruit, where it is tinned and not brought fresh in this country. This is good news as it’s perfect for the store cupboard and can be used in a number of dishes.

It doesn’t have a lot of flavour, but you can pack lots of flavour into it and I can also assure you that it isn’t sweet and it certainly doesn’t taste like bananas!

So, if it doesn’t look like a banana or taste like one, what actually is it?

Banana blossom is also known as a banana heart and grows at the end of a cluster of bananas. It has a purple skin and quite a fleshy texture, and is the shape of a large tear.

Once prepared, it’s quite similar to jackfruit or artichokes and is heavily used in Asian and Indian cooking.

Banana blossom contains protein, minimal fat, fibre, magnesium, calcium, iron and copper, and can really pack some great nutrition in to your diet.

It also provides Vitamin E and C, and can work as an antioxidant too, helping to reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Banana blossom can be eaten raw, but if you are wanting a softer, fleshier texture, the cooked variety in the tin (that we can buy) will give you the best results.

If you buy some banana blossom from the shops and don’t know what to do with it, here are some suggestions:

Street Food – Mix with a small bottle of barbecue sauce, wrap in foil and cook in a low-heat oven until soft and hot. Eat with a tortilla wrap and salad.

Italian – Cook one diced onion and one crushed garlic clove in oil, add the banana blossom with sliced peppers, sliced mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, one tsp oregano, salt and pepper and serve with pasta and grated cheese.

Indian – Cook one diced onion, two crushed garlic cloves, one tbsp grated fresh ginger, one small diced red chilli in a little oil. Stir in one tsp garam masala, one tsp turmeric, half tsp ground cumin, one tsp brown sugar and one tin of chopped tomatoes. Add one tin of coconut milk with the banana blossom and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with rice.

Chinese – Cook one bunch of sliced spring onions (or one red onion), one small diced green chilli, two crushed garlic cloves and one tbsp grated fresh ginger in oil and add one courgette and one carrot, sliced into ribbons. Stir until just soft and add the banana blossom. Stir in one tsp fish sauce, one tsp brown sugar, two tbsp soy sauce and two tbsp mirim. Serve with a squeeze of lime, rice or noodles and sesame seeds.

With such diverse ingredients about and at times when our favourites are out of stock – or you just can’t get to the shops (as we have recently experienced) – there are huge benefits to having alternatives to fall back on.

You may just find a new favourite and one that your body will thank you for.