Do you think you can peel a banana? Reconsider your position. Bananas aren’t a natural component of the diet of wild monkeys, who, while fond of fruits in their native surroundings, only encounter the sweet berries (botanically speaking) in human settings, but it appears that some of our closest relatives have a greater grasp of these fruits than we do.
Professor Katharine Milton of the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in the food ecology of primates, told Business Insider, “The entire wild monkey-banana relationship is, in reality, utter invention.” “The edible banana is a domesticated plant and fruit that has been grown. Wild monkeys never come into contact with bananas unless they are in close proximity to human civilization where bananas are or have been cultivated.”
They may not have been the first to eat bananas, but they’ve been immortalized in a technique known as the “monkey method” because of the way certain animals use their feet to peel a banana. The stalk is the most important element when figuring out how to peel a banana (that hard pointy bit sticking out of one end). Do you believe the banana stem can be snapped and peeled with ease? Or do you use it as a handle to help you get started on the stubby end?
STALK IS A ZIP: HOW TO PEEL A BANANA, if you responded yes to the first question, we hate to inform you that this is widely considered to be the incorrect method for peeling a banana. The method has been criticized for the difficulty in getting the stalk to break, as well as the fact that it results in a sad, mushy banana. Many claims that the so-called “monkey approach” is the way to go if you want a premium banana-eating experience.
STALK IS A HANDLE FOR PEELING A BANANA, Bananas grow in bunches, with the stubby end serving as the “top” and the stiff stalk serving as the “bottom.” As a result, grasping the stalk as a handle seems to be the most logical way to begin, and it appears to help the procedure overall. Holding the stalk in one hand, pinch the top between your fingers, which should easily come apart when ripe. The banana may then be peeled around the sides without any uncomfortable bending that can harm or soften the fruit.
You may also be given the remainder of the banana blossom in the shape of a little, blackish nib, which may be readily removed before you begin eating if you don’t like it. Although bananas aren’t a natural component of many primates’ diets, movies have shown how these animals intuitively adopt the “proper” technique to peel a banana, holding the stalk with their feet while prying out the top with their hands.
