Bananas

To serve raw, bananas should be very ripe, almost to the point of decay. Unripe bananas are difficult of digestion, and should never be given to children unless they are cooked.

Baked Bananas

Remove the skin from one side of the banana, then loosen the fruit and take it out. Do not strip the skin from one end to the other or the fibre will remain on the banana and make it bitter. Place the bananas in a porcelain or stoneware dish, dust thickly with granulated sugar, cover the bottom of the dish with water, and bake in a quick oven thirty minutes, basting once or twice.

Fried Bananas

Peel the bananas and cut them into halves, lengthwise. Have ready heated in a shallow pan about half a cup of olive oil. Drop the bananas into the hot oil; when brown on one side turn and brown the other. Lift at once into a heated dish and send to the table. These are very nice to serve with mock steak. They are also a nice accompaniment to curries.

Banana Souffle

Peel and mash through a colander six bananas. Add to the pulp six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, and fold in gradually the well beaten whites of four eggs. Turn at once into a baking-dish, and bake in a quick oven about ten minutes.

Stewed Bananas

1/2 cup shelled almonds

6 bananas

Grated rind and juice of one lemon

1/2 cup sugar

Peel the bananas and cut into slices one inch thick. Put into a saucepan, add the sugar and the grated rind and juice of the lemon, with just enough water to prevent scorching. Cover the saucepan, bring to boiling-point, and add the almonds that have been blanched and chopped. Turn into a heated dish and serve warm. These may also be flavored with tamarinds or orange.