"Biju Chacko" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > How true is this in India? I see several different varieties [1] > available here. From that perspective, this article seems > unnecessarily alarmist.
India has a wide variety of bananas available because they don't have to be shipped long distances. Here in colder climes, we depend on bananas being sent by rail, then ship, then rail again, and only the rare varieties which will take considerable abuse in transit can survive the trip. Thus, we depend on plantations in distant places growing the fairly tasteless Cavendish banana, which is subject to the blight that is wiping out the trees. Some information on this is described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavendish_banana > [1] My favourite are the red ones -- any idea what they're called? I feel deprived. I have never tasted any banana other than a Cavendish, and I'm reliably told that they're really not very tasty compared to most other types. I've also very little experience with "real" mangoes -- the ones sold here are mostly notable for their durability, which is similar to that of automobile bumpers. Unfortunately, they're also about as flavorful as automobile bumpers. South Asian friends of mine in New York regularly get this distant, misty look in their eyes when they start telling me about how much better mangoes are in India... Perry -- Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED]
