See below for recipe
History of Bananas Foster
Bananas Foster is one of those namesake foods. Bananas drenched in rum and banana liqueur then flambéed tableside and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s a dramatic presentation for a swoon-worthy dessert, but who is Foster? And why did anyone think setting bananas on fire would be a good idea? It all began at a New Orleans, Louisiana restaurant named Vieux Carre (informally known as the first Brennan’s), that had easy access to boatloads of bananas. Literally.
Bananas were not introduced to North America until sometime after the Civil War (after 1865). In the mid-20th century, the port of New Orleans was a major point of entry for bananas shipped from Central and South America. In 1951, Owen Brennan, a well-heeled New Orleans restaurateur, challenged his chef, Paul Blangé, to create a dessert to honor then-New Orleans Crime Commission chairman Richard Foster. With a bounty of bananas, Blangé came up with — you guessed it — Bananas Foster. At least that’s one story. Other versions suggest Blangé had an accomplice.
By some accounts, including Brennan’s, Owen Brennan also asked his sister, Ella, to create a dessert to honor Richard Foster. In 2016, Ella’s daughter, Ti Adelaide Martin, told NPR her mother was working at her brother’s first New Orleans restaurant, Vieux Carré, when Owen surprised her with the unexpected request. “While fussing and carrying on, she just grabs the bananas,” Martin said. “They were probably just sitting right there, readily available.”
Inspired by a memory of childhood breakfasts of sautéed bananas, combined with a nod to the flaming Baked Alaska on the menu at another venerable New Orleans dining institution, Antoine’s, Ella partnered with Chef Paul Blangé to create the dessert that has reigned supreme at Brennan’s (both the original Vieux Carré on Bourbon Street and the current incarnation on Royal Street) for more than eight decades.
The now-iconic confection wasn’t an immediate hit. It didn’t really catch on until Vieux Carré introduced a breakfast menu featuring what is now the restaurant’s signature dessert, ultimately spawning the longstanding tradition of Breakfast at Brennan’s. (Fear not: It’s still a mainstay on the dinner menu.) To match demand, Brennan’s flambés about 35,000 pounds of bananas every year. And even decades after its debut, Ella (who died in 2018) and her daughter Ti Adelaide, wondered how it had become so famous, musing to NPR, “Why in the world do people make such a big deal out of that simple dessert?”
Bananas Foster – Recipe
Adapted by John coletta
This dramatic, flambéed result is now the most-ordered menu offering at Brennans’. It is not unusual for guests who have dined elsewhere to arrive just for a dessert of Bananas Foster.
Yields 4 servings
Ingredients
- 50g. Butter; Unsalted; Room Temperature
- 110g. Sugar; Light Brown
- 1.50g. Cinnamon; Ground
- 50 ml. Banana Liqueur
- 2 each Bananas; Fresh; Peeled and cut lengthwise into half and cut in half vertically.
- 50 ml. Rum; Dark
- 2 each Bananas; Fresh; Peeled and cut lengthwise into half and cut in half vertically.
- 4-80g. Vanilla Ice Cream; Scoops
Instructions
- Place a flambé pan onto a medium heat. Add the butter, sugar, cinnamon and combine into a unified mixture is achieved.
- Add the Banana liqueur stirring to ensure a unified mixture. Add the bananas to the flambé pan and simmer slowly for 30-seconds to 1-minute.
- Expose the flambé pan to the flame and add the dark rum, ensuring that the rum is ignited. Stir the sauce with the bananas, while ensuring that the alcohol is cooked away. Once the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of spoon, remove the flambé pan from the heat.
- Arrange the bananas onto an appropriate serving vessel. Place a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream onto the bananas and spoon the pan sauce onto the vanilla ice cream.
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