Jescinth Williams holds her winning Nutty Banana Bread. - PHOTOS BY NASHAUNA DRUMMOND
At Lifestyle, we're so thrilled by the sight of golden fingers of bananas these days that we've ... well ... gone bananas and some of our readers have joined us. To celebrate the return of the banana (after Hurricane Ivan), we invited readers to a 'Banana Bread Bake-Off'. Yesterday, our seven finalists from as far away as Mandeville, Manchester; White Horses, St. Thomas, and Old Harbour, St. Catherine brought in their banana bread for our judges to pick the best of the bunch.
THE COMPETITION
Seven finalists:
Dorritte Brown, Sharon Heslop-Brown, Zein Nakash, Kerry-Ann Stewart, Luke Thomas-Shorter, Jescinth Williams, Tanisha Williams
The judges
Gary Bowes, head chef at Caribbean Broilers (CB Chicken), master baker and bartender
Nordia Craig, Gleaner assistant advertising manager, says she knows a great banana bread when she tastes one because her mother bakes the best banana bread in the island. And people who know her would agree.
Barbara Ellington, senior Gleaner writer says: "What qualifies me as a judge? My Aunt Catherine Powell whose recipe I follow to the T, makes the best banana bread, so I know what a banana bread ought to taste like."
Barbara Williams, secretary at The Gleaner, has been involved in the pastry business for 25 years as a baker, decorator and teacher.
The scoring
The entries were scored on five areas, with a maximum of 10 points for each area. Scoring was based on appearance; taste; banana flavour; texture; and the want more factor.
AND THE WINNER IS...
Jescinth Williams
"Self-praise is no recommendation, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating," said Williams, the day before the taste off.
In the end, her nutty banana bread racked up points for taste, flavour and appearance to top the field.
Williams said she decided to enter the
competition after her son, Yannick Reid, encouraged her to do so.
"He said, 'Mommy, your banana bread is too good, you should enter'. This was after he and my mother, Rhena Williams, saw the competition in the Food section of The Gleaner."
Williams, 41, a self-employed interior
decorator, also reckons that she makes a 'mean banana bread' and wants the world to know.
In fact, Williams is a 'bananaholic' who eats at least one banana a day.
"I love bananas so much that every morning I have a banana shake for breakfast. The shake is made of ripe bananas, papaya, grape nut cereal, flax seed (omega-based product) and soy milk. I have this shake because it is healthy."
Although she studied home economics in high school, Williams said she didn't do much baking again until seven years ago when her interest was rekindled. This time, she decided to experiment. One of her experiments is the Nutty Banana Bread, which is loaded with walnuts, pecans and sliced almonds.
"Every time people eat my banana bread they would say 'yum yum, this is great'. Thus, my banana bread is great because people always want more."
Judges' comments: Great bread, but needed more of the banana flavour to give it 'oomph'.
More about the participants on Page C4.
THE PRETTIEST BANANA BREAD
Tanisha Williams, a fourth form student at Mavis Bank High School in Mavis Bank, St. Andrew, impressed the judges with the artistic decoration of her cake.
The 16-year-old was encouraged to enter the competition by her Food and Nutrition teacher Shelai-Wa Henry who said Tanisha was her best student. Henry also figured that the exposure would be good for her student.
"I think it's the best because I go that extra mile to give it that flavour and spice," said Williams, the youngest participant.
The aspiring nurse is also young in the pastry area. Three weeks ago she started baking in her Food and Nutrition class and so far has caught on to banana bread and fruit cake. But her culinary skills also extend to those special occasions in the realm of birthday cakes.
Judges comments: The banana bread is beautiful but needs more work to boost the flavour and texture.
LUKE THOMAS-SHORTER
When contacted on Tuesday afternoon Thomas-Shorter was slaving over his stove to perfect his banana bread for the contest.
Thomas-Shorter who has been cooking since he was a child, said he often baked for his children's school functions as well as for his church functions.
Although this was only the 52-year-old, self-employed engineer's second attempt at making banana bread, he believed it would satisfy even the most discerning of critics.
He reckoned that he'd eaten enough banana bread to know what one should taste like.
Our judges agreed, giving Thomas-Shorter just enough points to squeeze by Zein Nakash for second place.
He gets the texture of his bread, he added, by blending fruits into it. From his own unofficial testing, Thomas-Shorter said he has received comments that the banana flavour is not overpowering and that it's not too sweet.
"People say that because of the sugar content it would be good for diabetics as well. One man also said that the mixture is just right not too heavy, that he thinks it comes from a grandma's recipe."
He entered the competition, he said, because "I love challenges in food. I like to match my culinary skills against the best."
Judges comments: He fell short on appearance and the bread needed more of the banana taste.
ZEIN NAKASH
Ever since Food had its first Banana Bread showdown in 2001, Zein Nakash has been raring to show off her banana bread skills.
Her bread, she explained, was made from a simple recipe with not much else added other than nuts and coconut.
Nakash, who confessed to liking anything made with banana, added that her bread is moist and that people usually ask for the recipe after sampling her handiwork.
The SuperClubs Vice President of Marketing has been baking since high school but only started making this bread about five years ago.
She entered the competition, she said, for the fun of it.
"It was fun today and I learnt about presentation," added Nakash who, not knowing what to do about presentation showed up with two breads in a transparent plastic bag.
Judges comments: Most of the judges did not care for the coconut. They wanted more banana taste.
KERRY-ANN STEWART
Stewart's banana bread is a family tradition that she felt she could no longer keep a secret.
Her mother and sister are the true chefs in the family, she said, but because they're too shy to participate she decided to step forward and present the family bread.
The freelance pharmacist who lives in Mandeville and fills in for other pharmacists in the parishes of Manchester and St. Elizabeth, says people come back for the banana flavour.
"Someone once said that they ate it so fast that they didn't get to taste it. But on second thought they said they wanted more."
Stewart, who would only admit to being in her 20s, said she has been baking since she was 12.
"I don't consider myself in the same league as my mother and sister (who baked her own wedding cake eight years ago) but they help me along."
Stewart noted that her mother is always experimenting in the kitchen -- Chinese, Italian, you name it.
"Sometimes I have to tell her to come out of the kitchen. Cooking is a part of our family life and we're always having guests over and entertaining."
As for the competition, Stewart said she thought it would be fun and "to give other a chance to taste what we've been having over the years".
Getting the bananas in Mandeville was a challenge, however. "I had to call the supermarkets to reserve because people were purchasing them quickly."
Judges comments: Some judges found it too crumbly and felt that it needed far more banana flavour.
JUDGES' COMMENTS
Gary Bowes: Seems like banana bread D (Kerry-Ann Stewart) didn't use enough bananas. It has everything else except the banana. However, at this time bananas are just coming back so the ripe (speckled) ones that are sweet wouldn't be available for them to use. That is probably what is making a difference in many of these breads.
Nordia Craig: I don't know if everyone understood that we were having a banana bread contest because the bananas were used sparingly.
Barbara Ellington: I am disappointed that the real ripe banana flavour seem to be been missing from the lot. Some only had a hint of banana, others were too doughy, or were big on vanilla, but not on banana.
Barbara Williams: Overall the breads could've had more flavour. Some of them were also too crumbly.
