We use two different words for bananas. Yellow “bananas” are soft and sweet, and are also called “dessert” bananas. The smaller, greener and firmer (starchier) bananas are called “cooking” bananas, and sometimes plantains. But they are really all the same thing.

Bananas are the fruit of the world’s largest herb. They do not grow on a tree, although the herb is so large it looks like a tree.

They are native to tropical South and Southeast Asia, but during colonial times, their seeds were taken to many other parts of the world.