Paul Blangé, chef at Brennan's Restaurant in the French Quarter, created Bananas Foster in 1951 at the request of Owen Brennan, who wanted a new dessert featuring bananas — New Orleans was then (and remains) a major banana import port, with the fruit arriving daily from Central America. The dish was named for Richard Foster, a regular customer and friend of Brennan. It was designed for tableside preparation: the drama of banana rum igniting in a copper pan, the blue flame, the smell of caramelising butter and brown sugar — the performance is part of the dish. Brennan's claims to serve 35,000 pounds of bananas annually for this single dessert.
Bananas sautéed in butter and brown sugar until caramelised, flambéed with dark rum and banana liqueur, and served immediately over vanilla ice cream. The entire preparation takes under 3 minutes tableside. The sauce should be dark amber, thick, and toffee-like. The bananas should be soft but not mushy — caramelised on the outside, barely warm through. The rum flame should burn blue and die naturally, having burned off the alcohol and left the rum's molasses depth in the sauce.
Bananas Foster IS dessert. It does not need accompaniment. The vanilla ice cream provides the neutral, cold, creamy platform. The caramelised banana provides fruit and texture. The rum sauce provides depth, warmth, and complexity. A cup of strong coffee (New Orleans dark roast with chicory — Café du Monde blend) is the only appropriate pairing.
1) The butter-and-brown-sugar base must be fully melted and bubbling before the bananas go in. This is a caramel — it needs to reach 115-120°C to develop the toffee depth. The sugar should darken slightly beyond its starting colour. 2) Bananas must be ripe but firm — yellow with no brown spots. Overripe bananas dissolve in the hot sugar; underripe bananas don't caramelise properly and taste starchy. Cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise — four pieces per banana. 3) The flambé is not decorative. Igniting the rum burns off the harsh alcohol while retaining the rum's molasses, vanilla, and oak flavour compounds. A flambé that goes out too quickly (not enough rum, pan not hot enough) produces a boozy sauce. A flambé that burns too long (too much rum) produces a dry, alcohol-stripped sauce. 2-3 ounces of dark rum per serving is correct. 4) Banana liqueur (Crème de banane) goes in with or just after the rum. It amplifies the banana flavour and adds sweetness. Without it, the dish tastes like caramel with bananas. With it, the dish tastes like the banana is the star. 5) Vanilla ice cream only. The cold, neutral sweetness and the fat content of the ice cream against the hot, dark, rum-caramel sauce and the warm bananas is the thermal and textural architecture. Substituting another flavour breaks the balance.
The tableside tradition requires confidence. The flambé must be ignited deliberately — tilt the pan toward the flame, or use a long lighter. Never lean over the pan. The flame column can reach 60cm. Cinnamon — a pinch added to the butter-sugar base — is not in the original recipe but is a common New Orleans variation that adds warmth. The sauce alone — butter, brown sugar, rum, banana liqueur, reduced — is a magnificent ice cream sauce even without the bananas. It holds in the refrigerator for a week and reheat gently.
Not getting the pan hot enough before flambéing — the rum needs to be heated to its flash point before ignition. A cold pan produces a timid flame or no flame at all. Using light rum — light rum has less flavour to leave behind after the alcohol burns off. Dark rum (Myers's or Gosling's are the traditional choices) provides the molasses depth that defines the sauce. Overcooking the bananas — they need only 30-60 seconds per side in the hot sugar. Mushy bananas are unappealing in texture and lose their identity against the sauce. Making it in advance — Bananas Foster exists in the three minutes between pan and plate. It cannot be held, reheated, or batched.
Brennan's Restaurant; John Folse — Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine; Tom Fitzmorris — New Orleans Food