Chilled Bananas (1919) ★★★★

10:07 AM 1910s , 20th century , 4 stars , dessert , fruit , gluten-free , interwar , united states 0 Comments

Wow, the last time I wrote here Little Y was only 17 months old - now she is 21 months! Last week I finished my winter semester of school, so I have a little free time on my hands (this seems to be a recurring theme). I am taking one course over the summer and I am looking for a job, but nothing has popped up so far. Little Y spends two days a week at a home daycare, so I get some time to myself. We are still eating gluten-free, so here is another recipe I scrounged up, which is actually from a collection of recipes from around the world. I'm actually surprised that I was able to find gluten-free historical recipes at all, so I am really excited to try them out!

CHILLED BANANAS
Cut ice-cold bananas down lengthwise, and lay these halves on a plate with a quarter of a lemon and a generous teaspoon of powdered sugar.Eat with a fork or spoon after sprinkling with lemon juice and dipping in sugar.

The Verdict:
This is a ridiculously simple recipe, but it really does make eating bananas somewhat more sophisticated. I used just one banana here, but I think two or even three would be alright, because the lemon wedge gave a lot of juice. The lemon and sugar added a sweet/sour aspect, but also masked a lot of the banana flavour. I'm not a huge fan of powdered sugar on its own, so I think this would be delicious with brown sugar. Overall, I think this is a great way to turn fruit into a healthy dessert. It makes it a little bit more special than just eating a banana. I would consider giving this to Little Y as a special treat, but she cannot tolerate citrus, unfortunately.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from The International Jewish Cookbook)
BANANAS
1/4 LEMON, cut in a wedge
1 teaspoon POWDERED SUGAR

1. Slice the bananas lengthwise and arrange them on a plate with the lemon wedge and sugar.
2. Eat the bananas by squeezing lemon juice on them and dipping them in the sugar.