At Brennan's in New Orleans, Bananas Foster is a dessert prepared tableside, over a live flame, as well as a source of dining-room drama — and potential danger. The fire that rises off the pan can be seen tables away, stoking anticipation even in diners who have just started on their appetizers.
"The challenge with Bananas Foster is to keep the flame low," said Ralph Brennan, who grew up eating the dish at Brennan's. "When the pan gets real hot, there can be a mini-explosion. I can remember one incident where they singed a lady's fur coat."
The dessert was invented in 1951, when Owen Brennan, the restaurant's founder and Ralph Brennan's uncle, requested a special dessert for an important guest. Ella Brennan, Owen's sister, collaborated with Paul Blangé, one of the early chefs at the Brennan family's original restaurant, and a headwaiter. Their creation became a kind of family heirloom that's now served all over New Orleans.
"My aunt came up with this idea to use brûléed bananas," said Ralph Brennan, 68, now an owner of Brennan's. "My grandmother had the habit of brûléeing bananas at home. Back in the day, the Port of New Orleans was one of the biggest importers of bananas into the United States."
Bananas Foster can now be found in many forms in the city: Bananas Foster cakes, sundaes, bread pudding. But there is no substitute for the original, live-action version, spooned over melting vanilla ice cream.
Brennan's has been closed, and its hourly staff laid off since the government issued stay-at-home orders in March. No date has been set, but Ralph Brennan is looking forward to reopening — and resuming the Bananas Foster tradition.
"It's part of the cinema of dining," he said. "The flaming of an item in a dining room is so rarely done these days. I can't tell you how many people sit there with their phones and take a video of the making of the dessert."
Bananas Foster
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 banana, peeled, halved lengthwise and crosswise
Cinnamon
1 teaspoon banana liqueur
1 ounce light rum (80- to 90-proof)
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Melt butter and sugar in a small frying pan. Add banana pieces and saute over medium heat until lightly browned, turning pieces once. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Remove pan from heat.
Add liqueur and rum to pan. To flambe, carefully light sauce with long-reach lighter. Spoon flaming sauce over the banana pieces until flame is extinguished.
Serve warm banana pieces and sauce over vanilla ice cream.
Makes 2 servings.
Recipe adapted from Brennan's by New York Times food editor Jane Nickerson in 1957
Food on 06/03/2020