Why Lady Finger Bananas Should Be Your First Pick For Fruit Salad

Did you know there are over 1,000 different banana varieties? Especially if you're in the United States, it's easy to forget all bananas aren't the singular kind we'll find in supermarkets, the Cavendish. When the banana trade was forming in the 19th century, importers were figuring out how to get bananas from their native lands like South and Central America, Australia, and Africa to the newly banana-loving Americans. Ultimately, a particular variety called the Gros Michel proved heartiest for long journeys by sea, and banana business streamlined to just that one kind; it was later updated to the very similar Cavendish. But this ignores that there are many tasty banana varieties, and that one in particular is actually ideal for snacking raw and putting into fruit salads: Lady Finger bananas.

Lady Fingers are visually striking, their name making sense when you see them spreading out in a hand-like fashion. They're shorter, thinner, and straighter than Cavendishes. They grow in Southeast Asia, but you can find them in specialty or international markets if you're willing to search — and that endeavor would be worth it. Lady Fingers are sweeter than Cavendishes in a natural non-cloying way, like honey. They'd be a creamy, sweet balance to acidic, tart citrus in a fruit salad. Another upside is that they don't brown when you cut them, while other varieties do. You can put a fruit salad out at a get-together and Lady Finger bananas will stay beautifully yellow.

Creamy with notes of honey and vanilla, Lady Finger bananas stand out because they're like an instant (and nutritious) dessert. So, they're dreamy for making smoothies or following Giada De Laurentiis' advice to work bananas into ice cream sandwiches. But, of course, you don't want to miss out on the magic of a Lady Finger banana raw. And their ready-to-go dessert quality, plus that resistance to browning, make them a fruit salad staple. Cavendishes will start browning and getting mushy once they're cut and sitting with other fruits. Lady Fingers can stay bright and creamy but with a bite, and their more pronounced sweetness compared to Cavendishes makes them a complementary partner to earthy kiwi, tart strawberries, and acidic pineapple.

Lady Fingers would be perfect in a simple fruit salad with honey-lime dressing, rounding out those bright citrus flavors but matching the honey. Similarly, they're just the thing for a fruit salad upgraded with herb or even chili pepper infusions — their vanilla notes are a soft balance for herbaceousness, spice, and heat. You could also create a more autumnal take on the fruit salad with Lady Finger bananas' honey quality, teaming them with apples, pears, raisins or dried cranberries, and walnuts. And if you do want to bake something banana-centered up, even if you use Cavendishes for the cream part, top your classic banana cream pie with Lady Finger slices — they'll sweeten the deal and remain a lovely yellow decoration.