This recipe is from our New Orleans Kitchen feature.
Brennan’s, the storied restaurant that has anchored Creole dining on Royal Street since 1946, was treated to a stunning $20 million redo a decade ago, but thankfully some things didn’t change. Restaurateur Ralph Brennan and partner Terry White knew that there was no messing with the bananas Foster, a flaming orgy of bananas, butter and rum-fueled goodness that was invented by his aunt Ella Brennan in the early 1950s.
Recounted in her memoir “Miss Ella from Commander’s Palace,” Ella recalled her brother Owen asking her to create a special dessert in honor of the New Orleans Crime Commission chairman, Richard Foster. The dinner was that night, so the pressure was on. Ella grabbed bananas, remembering a dish of caramelized bananas that her mother often made for breakfast. The rest, as they say, is history, with the dessert named in honor of the chairman.
At Brennan’s, the cinnamon scented spectacle treats diners to a tableside show. Once one guest orders the treat, envious murmurs fill throughout the dining room, sparking a slew of copycat orders. It all adds up to an average of 35,000 pounds of bananas flambéed for the popular dessert every year.
Bananas Foster
Recounted in her memoir “Miss Ella from Commander’s Palace,” Ella recalled her brother Owen asking her to create a special dessert in honor of the New Orleans Crime Commission chairman, Richard Foster. The dinner was that night, so the pressure was on. Ella grabbed bananas, remembering a dish of caramelized bananas that her mother often made for breakfast. The rest, as they say, is history, with the dessert named in honor of the chairman.
Ingredients
1 oz butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 oz banana liqueur
1 1/2 oz aged rum
1/2 banana per person
Directions
- Combine butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambe pan.
- As the butter melts under medium heat, add the banana liquor and stir to combine.
- As the sauce starts to cook, peel and add the bananas to the pan.
- Cook the bananas until they begin to soften (about 1-2 minutes)
- Tilt back the pan to slightly heat the far edge. Once hot carefully add the rum, and tilt the pan
toward the flame, to ignite the rum. - Stir the sauce to ensure that all of the alcohol cooks out.
- Serve cooked bananas over ice cream and top with the sauce in the pan.
