“Banana Coffee”

(CERTAIN interests in Australia are still trying to introduce a concoction called “banana coffee” —although there is not a suggestion of coffee about it. The plan it seems, is to help the Australian banana-grower, who is always wailing.

The adoption of “banana coffee” would use up the unmarketable bananas. This is how the stuff is made: Bananas in various stages of ripeness were used, but those which might be termed semi-ripe proved most satisfactory. The skin was removed from the fruit. Should this prove difficult it could be facilitated by dipping the fruit in boiling water for a few seconds. The fruit was quartered length wise and cut into pieces approximately two inches long. It was then placed on wooden trays, which were placed in the dehydrator for 9 hours at an approximate temperature of 120 deg. Fah., and the temperature was then raised to 130 degrees and the process continued for another 9 hours.

The fruit was then ready for roasting, and this was carried out in an ordinary coffee roaster. Care must be exercised during roasting to see that the fruit did not stick to the sides of the machine.

When the product was bone dry it was ground in an ordinary coffee mill. The loss of weight from the fresh stage to the ground product was about 80 per cent. In many instances banana “coffee” was used pure, but blends with ordinary com mercial coffee had also been made.