Friday, 10 June 2016 10:46

Why Canarian Bananas Are Best, And How To Pick A Perfect One

Canary Islands bananas in a plantation Canary Islands bananas in a plantation www.photosgrancanaria.com

Gran Canaria & the Canary Islands have grown bananas for export for almost 100 years and everyone who tries them agrees that they are the sweetest and tastiest in the world. Here's why they are so good, and how to pick a perfect one. 

You'll see banana plantations all over north Gran Canaria and in the rural valleys in south Gran Canaria such as Veneguera. Plantations have walls full of holes around them that allow the wind to blow through and disperse rather than blowing over the wall and damaging the plants.

Lots of people even have a clump of bananas in their Gran Canaria garden and always get plenty of fruit to give to their neighbours.

Why are Canarian bananas so tasty?

It's a combination of the sunny climate in Gran Canaria, the type of bananas that we grow and the fact that they stay on the plant for much longer than most bananas.

Gran Canaria's climate is perfect for growing bananas as the warm temperatures, cool breeze, and almost constant sunshine let the plants grow in perfect conditions.

The banana plants that grow in Gran Canaria are a variety called the Dwarf Cavendish; It’s a short banana plant (about three metres high) that produces big bunches of small, sweet bananas. They are about half the size of a Caribbean or South American banana but pack in much more flavour and sugar.

Canarian bananas that are exported to Europe are picked days before they arrive in the shops rather than weeks for Caribbean bananas. This means that they are much riper and contain more sugar, vitamins and taste.

Look for Canarian bananas in shops all over Spain, in ASDA supermarkets in the UK, and in Karstadt and Kaufhof supermarkets in Germany. You also find them in specialist fruit shops and markets all over Europe.

How to choose the tastiest bananas

No matter how quickly a banana gets to market in Europe, it will never be as tasty as the ones that you buy in Gran Canaria itself and especially the ones you find in local markets and little shops.

These come directly from the plantation and have never been in a fridge. This is important as chilling bananas means that they stop ripening and never develop their full flavour.

To recognise a good banana, look for an even yellow colour ( a bit of green at the tip is fine) with no bruising. Canarian bananas are perfectly ripe when they start to get tiny black spots on the skin.

If you buy too many and they go soft, use them to make smoothies or delicious banana bread.

You can now even buy wine made from bananas in Gran Canaria supermarkets and souvenir shops. Called Platé, it’s a slightly sweet wine with a faint taste of banana and is a great gift to take home for friends who missed out on eating sun-ripened Canarian bananas in situ.

Not just tasty but also healthy

Bananas aren’t just tasty but are also rich in potassium (important in the Canary Islands where you sweat more than at home), Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Magnesium and soluble fibre.

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Tip of the day

  • The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!
    The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!

    If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts. 

    In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.

    A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.

    However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.

    A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics. 

    Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.

    We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened. 

    To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.

    Search for the nearest one to you with this tool

    Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives. 

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