Day 97: speechless bliss
I don’t see much point in making a fuss (publically) about the things you don’t like, but, in some instances, I think you can get away with it if plays a pivotal part in the plot of a story; adding substance and effect to the revelation at the end. So, please bear with me for this very short account of my dislike of bananas - I promise you it all ends very gloriously.
I’ve never been a particularly enthusiastic fan of bananas, and am certainly not an embracer or supporter of the popular combination of banana and chocolate; if truth be told I’m not a fan of chocolate and fruit at all.
With bananas, for me, it’s two things: 1) texture, and 2) smell.
Texture: on the rare occasion I do eat a banana, it has to be what many may call unripe; canary yellow with parrot-green markings still in abundance. And, when I do eat it, it has to be sliced: I cannot bite into a whole banana. Anyone with textural eating issues may understand.
Smell: my issue is less with the smell of unripe or just ripening bananas, but more with the (to me) noisome scent of the over ripe ones; when any trace of yellow speckling has all but disappeared into the browning sheath.
All that being said, I do want to try new things, and Nigella’s Chocolate, Tahini and Banana Pudding looks so bloody gorgeous - both in the book and on TV - that there’s absolutely no way I could go through this cookalong without trying it. Plus, when it comes to food, I am always happy to be proved wrong. I take no joy in disliking something. In fact, it irks me because I get this agitated fear of missing out when other people enjoy something that I don’t!
Also, as a child, I had a great love for cold banana custards. My Nan used to make individual ones in little prawn cocktail style dishes and, when cooled, grate a little dark chocolate over the top. I recall preferring mine without the chocolate but, with or without it, enjoyed them with a gleeful smile.
Nigella’s Chocolate Tahini and Banana Pudding
In part, my drive for making this, in addition to wanting to try it, was actually a mammoth curiosity to try banana skins in a curry; I may be less fond of bananas in their raw form, or in desserts, but I rather like them in savoury foods. My recent crush is actually on Mr Vikis Banana and Habanero Chutney.
I cooked mine in a slightly smaller, deeper dish than suggest and baked it for about 40 minutes. It came out with a beautifully cracked wobbling crusty and a dreamily molten chocolate centre.
The banana skins were soaked in hot water, turmeric and salt, and are in the fridge waiting for their turn to shine in a curry this evening. More on this one tomorrow!
Flavour musings
This was a culinary orgasm. I don’t know if that turn of phrase is appropriate, crass, cliché, or frowned upon in the food-writing realm, but its definition fits the bill. It’s defined, by the Urban Dictionary, as “A food item or meal so delicious, words alone cannot describe them.” You are said to have a culinary orgasm when you can do nothing but sit back in awe at the taste”. No better two sentences could describe my feelings at the point of scooping into this dark, squidgy pudding, dolloping on tahini cream, and slowly - hypnotically - trickling thick date molasses over the top, before diving in for that first, utterly orgasmic bite. Quite possibly the finest moment in my eating history. A moment of absolute speechless bliss. This expressive enthusiasm comes not only in truth but in surprise in that I found so much joy in chocolate and banana! This is the pud I will make to impress, and I am totally trying the Chocolate Tahini and Banana Bread with the next bunch of ripe bananas. Actually, I only need one more because I froze one yesterday!
Dark chocolate, dark brown sugar and dark, ripe bananas: ingredients for a hugely rich pudding, but - whilst it is still richly divine - the tahini brings in a nutty, savoury element that forges a well-rounded unique set of flavours. This pud is silky smooth and heavenly molten.
I’d like to congratulate Nigella on the creation of this recipe - a feat unquestionably worthy of a pass to a higher level of existence by the way - and thank her profusely for bringing it into our lives.
