Flambéed bananas sizzled in the early seventies and fried ones have been a staple on so many dessert menus over the past few years (every sushi restaurant worth its sashimi has offered up deep-fried banana spring rolls with caramel sauce at some point) that there is no denying heating up the humble fruit has a certain appeal.
Building on this, I experimented with bananas on my barbecue a while back and found some interesting new ways to combine BBQ season with the popular dessert fruit.
First off, grilling bananas on the barbecue is pretty much a no-brainer. The barbecue is already hot, having just served its purpose of cooking steaks, veal burgers or whatever brochette you were offering, so lowering the heat to a simmer and dropping on a few bananas to cook over the next 20 to 30 minutes is easy.
But when cooking bananas on the barbecue, you should follow a couple of important steps:
1) Do not peel them. When placed on the barbecue, the peel serves as an insulator, much like aluminum foil over corn on the cob. The fruit cooks slowly inside the peel.
And 2) If you are going to baste the banana with anything, make sure to cut through the peel from the top of the stem down to the base so as to create an arc-shaped slit.
The bananas can stay on the barbecue for 15 to 45 minutes (depending on the heat of the grill and how soft you want them to be).
One of my favourite mixtures for basting is vanilla extract and brown sugar. First, peel open the slit in the banana enough to create a moat, then sprinkle a tablespoon of brown sugar evenly into it. Pour in a tablespoon of vanilla extract. (Don't worry if some of the vanilla spills over the edge and onto the grill; the smell will be fantastic.)
Depending on cooking time, you can replenish the brown sugar and vanilla several times. The fruit will soak up the mixture as it cooks.
Finally, remove the bananas from the grill and serve on individual plates garnished with vanilla ice cream or, if you're feeling guilty about all the brown sugar added earlier, vanilla yoghurt. Enjoy immediately.
Another basting combo that works well is Navan vanilla liqueur with a splash of lemon juice, although, come to think of it, what wouldn't taste great with warm banana?
Sebastien Centner is the director of Eatertainment Special Events in Toronto (www.eatertainment.com ).
