Harvest time in Eid’s hometown. Eid just sent this photo of some bananas and banana blossoms that she cut down this morning. When I was in Canada last year, she planted a couple dozen banana trees in an area that was previously overgrown, because a neighbour (a retired teacher who goes all over Thailand buying fruit to sell in the local market) said he could give her a good price.
The blossoms (which are cut off to help the fruit grow) are eaten in salads, soups and curries, and probably a lot of other things. Sometimes the tender white inner petals are served with pad Thai. They don’t have a lot of flavour on their own, but they have a nice texture, both when they’re eaten raw and when they’re cooked into other foods. (Thais often munch on raw cabbage and other leafy vegetables when eating things like sausages and grilled meat, mostly, I think, to help with digestion.)
These banana trees were planted by Eid and her mother while I was in Canada the year before. Eid continued tending to them even after her health began deteriorating several months later.
ลุง ลิง Loong Ling: A Sagacious Simian in Siam 