The foot-long Giant Plantain , ever popular in Caribbean cuisines, is always cooked before it is eaten. Depending on its ripeness at the time of cooking, it can produce a starchy, fritter-like morsel or a succulently sweet palate cleanser that compliments any other food on the plate. For the grower with more exotic tastes, the Jamaican Red produces a dull reddish-maroon fruit with orange flesh. These short, stubby bananas occasionally appear in grocery stores and should be tried for their unique flavor and texture. Similar in shape but with more conventional coloring is the Apple Banana , or Manzana .
Many experts believe that it is the sweetest and best eating of all the varieties.
And finally for those growers with a heightened sense of the bizarre, there are the Hua Moa , the Double Banana and the Fe'hi . The Hua Moa, which is very prevalent in Hawaii, produces a fruit that is broad and wide as if two bananas somehow managed to share the same skin. The Double Banana has the unusual habit of throwing two to four stalks simultaneously, and the Fe'hi, native to Polynesia, blooms on a single upright stalk, steadfastly refusing to hang over despite the weight of its fruit. While these last few exotics are much more challenging to bring to bloom, they are not impossible for a grower willing to spend a little time on research. Several excellent suppliers can be found in this country who offer healthy rhizomes and detailed growing instructions to help the novice get started.