Banana blossom

Musa × paradisiaca · Vegetable

40 pairings

The banana blossom is the whole trimmed banana heart — the dense inner bud at the tip of a banana bunch once its tough purple outer bracts, wiry stamens and styles have been stripped away, leaving a firm, pale-cream cone of tightly packed tender bracts and florets. Prized as a fleshy vegetable rather than a garnish, it is shredded raw into Southeast Asian salads, simmered into curries and stews, and — famously — battered and cooked as a flaking, fish-like substitute for white fish.

Picking a good onedrag

Tight, heavy, cut end paleBracts lifting, cut end black

Market freshThe all-rounder. Trim to the ivory core, soak acidulated to hold the colour and tame the tannin, then shred for salad or simmer into curry.Everyday best

Outer bractsColour dulling, outer bracts just beginning to lift

The heftFirm, gives only a little at the fat end

Cut stem endCut face dry, a shallow tan ring at the rim

Smell at the cutAlmost nothing, a clean vegetal note

What to look for, from tight, heavy, cut end pale to bracts lifting, cut end black.

Preparing