The Blue-Green Banana That Tastes Like Ice Cream

What color is a banana? The obvious answer is, of course, yellow, but unripe green bananas and overripe brown bananas are just as common. As noted by the Harvard School of Public Health, this is all certainly true for Cavendish bananas, which (despite being categorized as a dessert banana) are the standard bananas in modern times. Yet, there are other varieties out there with different appearances, such as the red banana, with a color that isn't hard to guess plus dark purplish hues.

So, looks can vary, but what about taste? The Cavendish is mildly sweet, the Red Banana is rich and creamy, and the plantain is plain and starchy (more often being used in cooked dishes than anything fresh). Aside from being eaten alone, as is, bananas are also regularly included in breads, muffins, and salads, as well as frozen treats like the banana split.

Fruit in ice cream is nothing new. These frozen dairy treats get their taste from the butterfat, cream, milk, and sugar in them, as well as flavors like chocolate and classic vanilla bean. Per Encyclopedia Britannica, though, when Marco Polo first brought icy desserts back to Europe from the East, it was based upon his observations of fruit ices in China. Can fruit itself taste like ice cream, though, and could it be blue, too?

If you read the title of this article, you probably already know the answer. Yes, bananas can indeed be blue — specifically, the blue java banana variety, according to Fine Dining Lovers. With a smooth texture and a hint of vanilla, its flesh reminds people of none other than vanilla ice cream, which is why it's also called the ice cream banana. Javas work well in both savory and sweet recipes, and it goes without saying they're great with ice cream. Flambées, fried rice, and smoothies in particular benefit from their inclusion, too.

Given the java banana's uniqueness, it's an understandably sought-after variety. Fortunately, it's easy enough to grow your own blue java banana tree, as long as temperatures don't fall below 20 degrees Fahrenheit where you live, and you can fit a plant that grows 10 feet wide and 18 feet tall into a space with plenty of light. Unfortunately, though, high demand means that it could be difficult to secure one. As reported by ABC 15 Arizona, 2022 saw folks from all across the globe turning to the Grand Canyon State, where the variety grows particularly well. Meanwhile, green-thumbed vendors scrambled to keep up with orders. If you do find one, congratulations; plant them in springtime, wait roughly a dozen months, and you'll have plenty of ice cream bananas on hand, all year round!

How icy and blue are java bananas really? As noted by Fine Dining Lovers, the fruit's flesh has the consistency of ice cream and just a hint of vanilla, with some comparing it instead to vanilla pudding. Edelle Schlegel, one cultivator of the java banana, told USA Today the taste is "sweet and slightly tart like apple bananas, the texture is ultra creamy." It's actually that texture that cements the comparison to ice cream, even if the flavor palette does help a little.

Similarly, some have overstated the blueness of this banana, and others have questioned their claims in response. According to Snopes, many of the vibrant pictures found on the internet have been secretly altered, oversaturating them and accentuating their bluer characteristics. Yes, the fruit has pale silvery-green skin when unripe, due to a heavy coating of wax, but it turns a pale, creamy yellow once ripe, and its flesh is snow white in color (similarly, the tree itself has silver-green leaves that brown during the wintertime).

We hope these revelations don't leave you feeling too blue, but we didn't want to slip up on the banana peel and feed you false facts. Rest assured that java bananas do look blue-green at times and also resemble ice cream in some regards. If you ask us, that's still pretty cool!