When I hear a word with "cream" or even "creme" as part of the name, I expect, well, rich, fatty, white goodness. What I don't expect is a brown turd-like object which clearly has nothing to do with skimming the fat off of fresh milk. Life is just full of surprises. They're not necessarily happy ones that inspire giddy, girlish glee, but they are technically "surprises" in that they find you totally off-guard.
My husband picked up this object at the Portuguese deli and market at which I found my Brazilian Pez. He saw "banana" and decided this was of interest to him. I saw "cremosa" and thought it might be of interest to me. It ended up that we were both wrong. This food-like item is of no interest to either of us, though we did gamely give it a try despite its resemblance to bodily waste.
It should be noted that I don't speak Portuguese, though I did study a little Spanish and they're like cousins to one another. However, that really didn't help much in this case because "cremosa" means "creamy" and that was simply a big, fat lie. Even if I understood perfectly, I still would have been mislead.
Be honest. Your first thought was, "who forgot to flush!"
What this is is a wad of sugary fruit puree that has enough cohesion to not smoosh into a smattering of paste, but is still very pliable. It's more grainy than "creamy", though I have to say that it probably is about as "creamy" as pureed banana mixed with sugar and potassium sorbate is going to get. The flavor is strange in that brown sugar dominates. The "banana" aspect mainly comes through as a sour, nearly rotten banana taste at the end of each bite. On the bright side, and in what I see as the only sunny side of this, the dusting crunchy sugary coating on the outside adds an interesting textural element to the banana goo. If nothing else, this product reinforces my already strong sense that Japan isn't the only place where they sell weird food.
This is a profoundly weird thing, which I'm sure is supposed to be health because it's fruit and only 92 calories for a blob about the length of my thumb. The web site for this product talks about how bananas have great nutritional benefits as does potassium. I agree with their logic, but not with the monstrosity they've created from a perfectly good banana. I say, stick to a real banana and give this mass of fruit paste a miss.
Hi. I´m from Brazil. This "bananada" is just the fruit conserved in sugar. It´s tradicional, you can find in all supermarkets, but i don´t think many people eat this. Similar products are "marmelada" and "goiabada". You must give "goiabada com queijo" (goiabada with cheese) a try. It´s very famous dessert here and people even make pizza with it . It´s nickname is "Romeo and Juliet". The goiabada comes in a can and you use any kind of white cheese. Tasty!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jtetsumi, and thank you for your comment.
ReplyDeleteIf I find goiabada com queijo, I will certainly try it! The fruit and cheese combination is one I'm somewhat familiar with. My father-in-law (who was born in Spain) makes a quince paste that he likes to eat with cheddar cheese. I love the quince paste, but I think the cheddar cheese is a bit pungent with it and like the white cheese idea better!
Huh. I was expecting a cake-like product with banana-flavored frosting.
ReplyDeleteI googled "quince" and discovered that quince tree is "marmeleiro". Looks like the spanish and portuguese eat quince paste and in Brazil quince paste turned into marmelada and goiabada. According to this site http://www.sonia-portuguese.com/recipes/goiaque.htm goiabada is "guava" or "passion fruit". If you find goiabada I suggest ricotta cheese. I believe goiabada is more exotic (tasty) than quince.
ReplyDeleteIt's a TURD!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis banana sweet is creamier than competitors. That's what this "cremosa" means.
ReplyDelete