Banana pudding is tasty and, for many people, nostalgic, reminding them of home, family reunions, community gatherings, and, for some, the South. Whether made with Nilla Wafers or sponge cake, instant pudding or custard, baked or refrigerated, banana pudding is creamy and delicious. Banana pudding can be made by layering vanilla pudding with Vanilla wafers, and freshly sliced bananas.
Banana is an essential part of this dish and is the only ingredient that adds banana flavor. Bananas are not indigenous to the United States; instead, they are native to tropical regions of Southeast Asia, northern Australia, and India. The fruit was brought to South America by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. Today, bananas are grown in the tropical parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America.
Before the American Civil War, most Americans did not have bananas. A few bunches came over from the West Indies in the 1840s and 1850s to places like Charleston and New York. Bananas were hard to find in the United States; initially; only select shops carried them. By the end of the 1870s, 4 million bananas were arriving in the country, as steamships and trading firms brought in more from the Caribbean and Central America.
A banana plantation on La Palma a Spanish Island of the Canary archipelago of the northwest coast of Africa.
Courtesy of Frank Vincentz. CC BY-SA 3.0.
T.E.S Veragua was one of the six sister ships in United Fruit Company’s Great White Fleet. It was a cargo liner and passenger liner, so this ship was designed for refrigerated banana transport. It was also used as a naval store ship during World War II under the name USS Merak.
Courtesy of Digital Commonwealth. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0.
As bananas became more popular, cooks and chefs began incorporating the fruit into recipes. The earliest recipe for banana pudding appeared in 1888 in Good Housekeeping (then based in Massachusetts). In the 1890s, banana pudding recipes were everywhere in cookbooks, magazines, and newspapers. At that time, the dish was typically made with sponge cake.
In the 1920s, cooks and chefs started using vanilla wafers instead of sponge cake. The popularity of banana pudding and the switch to vanilla wafers caught the attention of the National Biscuit Company, otherwise known as Nabisco. Nabisco seized the popularity of vanilla wafers and began putting a banana pudding recipe on the box in the 1940s. The wafer officially became the Nilla Wafer in 1967, and Nabisco’s marketing efforts helped popularize the dish.
A Nabisco Vanilla Wafers box from the 1930s–40s.
Courtesy of Jason Liebig.
How banana pudding became so closely associated with the US South is unclear. In 1933, a syndicated column offered a recipe for “Southern Banana Pudding,” but the column did not explain how the dessert was southern. By the 1950s, newspaper writers were associating the dish with the US South.
Nathalie’s, a now closed Southern cuisine restaurant in New York City, featured banana pudding on its “To top it all off” (dessert) menu in 1977.
Courtesy of Culinary Institute of America.
Banana pudding is a dish that can be as easy or as difficult to make as the cook desires, but what is guaranteed is a delicious dish that can feed the masses. Banana pudding can be found on menus across the country. Magnolia Bakery in New York City is known for its banana pudding; they even sell DIY banana pudding kits. There are ways to elevate the dish, for example, the bananas can be flambeed (covered with liquor and briefly set on fire) to add a luxurious flair to the dish. Instead of Nilla Wafers, pound cake can be used which is denser and richer.
Single servings of banana pudding.
Courtesy of Alabama Extension and Janet Guynn.
