Knowra Cooking banana Cooking banana A banana cultivar whose firm, starchy fruit is commonly cooked before eating. Plantains and other varieties are used boiled, fried, roasted, or mashed.
Plantain : A group of banana cultivars with starchy fruit commonly cooked before eating. Plantains are the best-known cooking bananas and anchor many traditional preparations.
Musa : A genus of flowering plants that includes bananas and plantains. Cooking bananas belong to this genus, whose cultivated forms have complex ancestry.
Domestication of bananas : The human selection and cultivation that produced edible banana crops from wild Musa ancestors. Cooking varieties descend from the long domestication of bananas in Southeast Asia and nearby regions.
Dessert banana : A banana cultivar selected for a sweet, soft fruit commonly eaten raw. Its ripe fruit is suited to fresh eating, unlike the firm, starchy fruit typical of cooking bananas.
Matoke : A Ugandan dish of steamed, mashed green bananas, often served with a sauce or stew. It shows how cooking bananas serve as a staple in East African cuisine.
Banana : An edible fruit produced by several cultivated plants in the genus Musa. Cooking bananas are one part of the broader cultivated banana group.
Musa acuminata : A wild banana species that contributed much of the ancestry of cultivated bananas. Its genomes contribute to many cooking banana types, alongside other Musa species.
Cavendish banana : A group of dessert banana cultivars that dominates international fresh-fruit trade. Cavendish bananas illustrate the soft, sweet market type often contrasted with cooking cultivars.
Tostones : Twice-fried slices of green plantain, flattened between frying stages. This preparation turns firm plantain into a crisp, savory side dish.
Banana cultivar groups : Groups of cultivated bananas classified by shared traits and genetic ancestry. Cultivar groups distinguish plantains and other cooking types from dessert bananas.
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