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Musa acuminata (dwarf cv.)·Southeast Asia
Also known as: lady finger banana, niño banana
Around four inches long and engineered for a single hand. Creamier than a Cavendish, more honeyed, with a denser texture that holds its shape when sliced. The whole fruit is one perfect bite — and once you've eaten one you'll resent every supermarket banana you ever ate before.
The baby banana — a dwarf Musa acuminata cultivar known regionally as lady-finger banana or niño banana — is the smaller, sweeter cousin of the Cavendish that fills every UK supermarket shelf. Each fruit runs around four inches long and is built for one bite or one hand.
Flavour and texture are both upgrades. The flesh is denser and creamier, the sweetness more pronounced and honeyed, and there's a faint floral note on the finish that the standard banana doesn't carry. Crucially the texture stays firm when sliced into yogurt or onto pancakes — Cavendish goes mushy, baby banana doesn't.
Ripen at room temperature until the skin freckles, then move to the fridge if you want to slow it down. Eat straight, blend into smoothies, freeze peeled chunks for instant nice-cream, or slice into porridge. Skin not eaten.
