Bananas Foster: Dessert on Fire
Are you a normal human being? If yes, then you will probably like Bananas Foster. It's a dessert made with bananas caramelized with an amalgamated sauce of flambéed butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur. All of this is accompanied with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream because... why not?! Plus, you get to see something on fire... besides me. I'm always on fire.
New Orleans is famous for being a melting pot of various cultures. In the span of a few hundred years, New Orleans has synthesized Creole, French, Spanish, Italian, Cuban, Chinese, Cajun, Native American, and African influences into a unique and delicious cuisine.
In the mid-twentieth century, New Orleans served as a major shipment port for Central and South American bananas.Owen Brennan, the owner of Brennan's Restaurant in the French Quarter, was asked by Holiday Magazine to provide a new recipe to include in an article about the restaurant. Along with the growing popularity of bananas, Brennan challenged his chef, Paul Blange, to create a dessert using bananas. In 1951, Blange was able to create their original Bananas Foster, named after Brennan's friend, Richard Foster.
Today, Bananas Foster is now served in restaurants across the country. Brennan's Restaurant continues to flame and serve over 35,000 pounds of bananas each year. That weighs as much as a bus or a Navy ship anchor. That's a lot of bananas.
Interested in trying Bananas Foster in New York City? Check out these great restaurants below:
In case you're interested in making this dish for yourself, here are a few recipes:
Paula Deen's Bananas Foster: Basic Bananas Foster recipe.
Alton Brown's Bananas Foster: A bit fancier than Paula Deen's with nutmeg, allspice, orange zest, and banana liqueur.
Brennan's Bananas Foster: Cinnamon. Cinnamon. Cinnamon.
Bananas Foster Bread Pudding: Great remix to the usual Bananas Foster.
If you like Bananas Foster, you might like Baked Alaska too :)