Banana

My father was very fond of bananas. He once told me that, during his childhood in Salisbury, bananas were his greatest treat. The supply of bananas to Britain was severely interrupted by the Second World War, but the return of bananas was one of the few bright spots in post-war food-rationed Britain. At that time, of course, few people, if any, gave much consideration to contemporary food supply issues, like food-miles, fair trade, and so on, and the role of companies like the United Fruit Company in Central and South America (subsequently giving rise to the description "banana republics") was largely unknown. The important thing was the supply of yellow Cavendish bananas. Certainly, during my childhood, it was unusual for us not to have a bunch of bananas in the fruit bowl.

I first visited Uganda in 1994. On the long drive from Entebbe to Kampala, I remember being struck by the colossal number of banana plants along the side of the road. The following day, I had my first taste of matooke, steamed pulped bananas served wrapped in banana leaves, resembling a yellow mashed potato. I wasn't too impressed: it seemed bland and tasteless to me, and I was surprised to learn that many Ugandans, especially the Baganda, do not consider a meal to be complete without matooke.

Since then, as I have travelled more widely, I have become more and more aware of the cultural significance that so many people attach to their core staple food - and how difficult it is to change preferences. In retrospect, my father - along with many older British people - had a powerful preference for potatoes and bread, and he did not really consider a meal to be satisfactory without one of these. In Ethiopia, the Amhara prefer Injera, in most of East and Southern Africa, maize porridge (ugali, sadza, pap) is essential, and in West Africa rice and cassava (gari) are most popular. One of my Board of Directors, Walter Vandepitte, underscored the strength of cultural attachment to a staple by telling me that in his experience Rwanda was one of the very few countries he could think of where the core staple had changed (from bananas to potatoes). I am not sure that I agree with him - maize, potatoes and bananas have all been imported to Africa in the course of the last two millennia and must, therefore, themselves have taken the place of other indigenous staples - but certainly changes in staples are rare and take place over a long time.

Since moving to Uganda in 2005, however, I have come to appreciate matooke as a staple food: indeed, it has become unusual for me not to have matooke at least once a day. I have also come to appreciate the banana far more than as a sweet yellow treat. It is fibrous, non-allergenic and packed with potassium. It grows and reproduces rapidly. It produces fruit throughout the year (provided there is sufficient rainfall). Its leaves have many uses. And it has numerous varieties - from the starchy matooke to delicious, sweet, small "apple" bananas - unknown to consumers of bland plantation-grown Cavendish bananas.

B is for (Ugandan) Banana.