Hot take: I was opening bananas wrong for 30 years and a toddler set me straight

Last week I was at a friend's barbecue (in Brooklyn, if that matters) and her 3 year old grabbed a banana off the table and pinched the bottom end, not the stem. I laughed thinking it was some kid thing, but then she peeled it open perfectly in like 2 seconds with zero smashed parts. Meanwhile I've been fighting with the stem forever, always ending up with that mushy brown bit at the top. Turns out monkeys and kids have been doing it the smart way this whole time - you just squeeze the little black nub on the bottom and it splits right open. I felt like an idiot, honestly. Has anyone else had a random kid or stranger show you a simpler way to do something you've been doing your whole life?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona33010d ago

Yeah, I gotta say, that bit about "fighting with the stem" really hit home. Here's the thing nobody brings up though, the real hidden cost is how much banana we've been throwing away our whole lives by doing it wrong. Every time you pull that stem, you're leaving a big chunk of mushy, bruised fruit behind that ends up in the trash. Those little bits add up over 30 years, probably a whole tree's worth of bananas wasted. Plus, when you pinch the bottom, you actually keep the stem intact so you can hold the peel like a handle and eat it without getting sticky fingers. Monkeys and toddlers just figured out the resource efficient way.

oliver_fisher10d ago

Try pinching the bottom and twisting, that gets it open clean every time.