Did you know you should store your bananas in the
fridge? I promise. I know, I know, your mom always told you to leave
them on the counter because they turn brown or even black if you keep
them cold. That’s true. But the inside stays as fresh and perfectly firm
as they day you bought it. I don’t like mushy bananas and if they’re too
ripe I don’t like to eat them. Instead I let them go another few days
and stir them into banana bread. But I love the convenience of bananas
for breakfast as I eat them in the car on my commute.
It drives me crazy to buy a bunch of them, display
them in a pretty bowl on the counter, encourage fruit flies to buzz by
and make my kitchen resemble a compost pile, and watch as my fruit turns
riper and over ripe before my eyes. Now, it’s true the other day I was
eating a brown on the outside just perfect with a hint of green flavor
on the inside banana at work the other day and a coworker was grossed
out. “You’re gonna eat that?” he asked in disgust. As though I was about
to eat moldy food for the sake of it. He even offered to give me his
apple or buy me a granola bar from the vending machine.
“Yes, I smugly said and unpeeled it. It was great.
I cut off a section of it for him and said, “Try it. Trust me. I have
never steered you wrong, at least of food. Maybe I give bad love life
advice, but hey.”
“That’s true. You make great cookies, you know lots
about ingredients and you’re always teaching us something new about
food.” He ate it. He was impressed.
“I told you so!”
“You learn something new every day. This is great.
My wife and I are always bickering because bananas go bad too fast, but
I don’t want them when they’re green either like you get them at the
store. Then they go bad, she throws them away and we waste money.”
The next day he said, “Know where I store my
bananas? The fridge. High five!”
Moral of the story: It’s true the peel is
unappetizing, but it’s worth keeping the fruit inside better. You peel
most fruits if it has inedible skin. You don’t love avocadoes for its
crisp, hard almost brown skin. You don’t necessarily enjoy lychee for
its brownish red layer that your remove. It’s what’s inside that counts,
and you keep it great by keeping it cool.
