the debate

there is a debate in our relationship that is every bit as fevered and contentious as any tv political debate.

The Banana Sandwich.

On the basics, we agree.  The bread should be toasted.  The banana should be cut in half, and then each half cut lengthwise, and arranged in a single layer on the toast.

It is the condiment on the sandwich that it hotly debated.

I grew up with only a light layer of margarine on both pieces of toast to make the perfect banana sandwich.  Recently, I’ve added some light cream cheese to one piece of toast to add some sweet creaminess.

Kev is disgusted with my margarine/cream cheese banana sandwich lifestyle. HE grew up with…I am not making this up…MAYONNAISE on his banana sandwich.

EWYUCK!!!

Both Kev and his mother INSIST that this is the only proper way to make a banana sandwich, and I am a FREQUENT TARGET of ridicule by Kev for shunning the mayo nanner lifestyle.  SO I do what I ALWAYS do in this situation: I throw it out to blogland.  Do you make banana sandwiches?  What do you put on them?  Are you as horrified at the idea of a mayo/nanner combination as I am?

32 Responses to “the debate”


  1. 1 Nannette

    We are devoted followers of the nanner sam (aka banana sandwich). Toasted bread, bananas sliced in rounds, and PEANUT BUTTER.

  2. 2 Nannette

    5 out of 5 people in this family decided that the mere thought of the banana/mayo combo only serves to trigger the GAG reflex. We may, however, indulge in the nanner/butter and/or nanner/cream cheese combinations. =D

    (sorry for the two comments … didn’t finish my thoughts before I submitted … blame the beer.)

  3. 3 Myles

    you’re both nuts… it’s always the peanut buttery goodness that goes on a banana sandwich!

  4. 4 kattghoti

    I’ve never made a banana sandwich the way you describe before, but now I think I will have to buy bananas at the store tomorrow.

    That said, I have made peanut butter and banana where the banana is mashed into a sort of jam. If I were to make a sandwich that features a banana, however, it would consist of toasted bread, margarine, and banana (possibly still mashed, because I like the texture). Mayo is never okay unless meat is involved.

    My dad has a penchant for saltine crackers with peanut butter. However, he follows the peanut butter up with mayo, which is indescribably disgusting. Peanut butter may be a vegetarian’s replacement for meat, but that doesn’t mean you can put mayo on it.

  5. 5 Lia

    Peanut Butter! OK, maybe margarine (’cept I’d go with the real butter). But never, never, NEVER mayo. And this is from someone who loves mayo on many foods. But not with fruit. Uh-uh, no way.

    My mom and her sibs used to eat PB and mayo sandwiches. Gah!

  6. 6 Cinnamon

    Putting mayo on a banana sandwich is an affront to all that is holy and good and is unAmerican, and Kevin and his mother are obviously deep-cover pinko commie spies for Russia.

    Peanut Butter. And now I want one, dammit.

  7. 7 Mollie

    Ewwwww to all of them. (Even margarine and bananas just sounds disgusting.) Peanut butter is the only possibility, and even that is optional.

  8. 8 Aimee

    Bananas in a sandwich? I think every one if you is crazy! Or at very least, just weird.

    (mayo and bananas together? **Shudder** YEUCH.)

  9. 9 Nico

    I agree, bananas in a sandwich?? Also, I know you people (as in north america) put honey on your chicken. When I told people back home about it they all found it disgusting. At the same time, we put eggs on our pizza and burgers, an idea some people up north weren’t so thrilled about.

  10. 10 Vince

    I cannot say I’ve ever had the pleasure(?) of a banana sandwich. However, I think cream cheese and perhaps margarine sounds much more appetizing than mayo. You put mayo on a sandwich with meat in it.

    Tell Kev you’re right. As usual.

  11. 11 ESC

    So I expected the peanut butter comments. Some of you may remember that I am allergic to peanuts and nuts, so PB is right out for me. I think Kev is a purist when it comes to PB, though. He either eats it on a sandwich with grape jelly only, or his other favorite is to smear a gob of it onto a lil debbie oatmeal cream cookie.

    Anyway, I’m happy to see that the banana/mayo combination is as disgusting to everyone else as it is to me. So much so that it brought out LURKERS! Kev is going to be pissed.

    Also, Nico? Errr…honey on chicken? Maybe in the marinade, like honey bbq chicken, or honey teryaki chicken. But I don’t think i’ve ever drizzled honey on chicken. Eggs on pizza sounds OK, as long as it’s a breakfast pizza, and you also add cheese and bacon.

    mmmm…bacon.

  12. 12 The Scoot

    I sometimes wonder about the deep undercover folks situation around the fall of the soviet system. I mean, ther you are, a member of the Bulgarian Stasi, footsoldier of the great soviet empire, who happens to run a hot dog stand in Brooklyn.

    Then… all of a sudden, you just run a hot dog stand in Brooklyn…

    Any ways, Banana sandwiches should be lightly toasted, and strawberry jelly should be used. Anything else is grounds for Cattholic excommunication before Vatican II.

  13. 13 rosie

    banana what? sandwiches?? you’re kidding right?
    with mayonnaise? NO. that would be WRONG. wr. o. ng

  14. 14 shel

    No, it’s untoasted bread with either Blue Plate mayo or PEANUT BUTTER (depending on mood)!

  15. 15 Julie

    The thought of mayo on anything makes me want to ralph. So mayo is out, especially on sammiches that involve fruit. Gah.

    Actually, banana sammiches are totally out for me, since I am allergic to the nanners (except the Nanner Peach, I am not allergic to her). I like the taste of them, but they make my mouth itch like crazy and I can’t deal with that anymore. But if I could, a nanner sammich with either PB (I understand your circumstances, but as PB won’t kill ME, I like it) or strawberry jam would be perfection. Or maybe both.

  16. 16 cybele

    Bananas, sliced in rounds, on hearty wheat bread, with HONEY.

    I can kind of see cream cheese. I can see peanut butter. (Peanut butter is best with sliced cucumber, by the way.)Butter is better than margarine. No one has yet mentioned a variation I’ve seen, which is banana and marshmallow.

    I have heard of the banana/mayo combo, so Kev and his family are not the only ones.

  17. 17 The Daily Randi

    I have Never Even Heard of A Banana Sandwhich in the first place!

    But, it does sound Delicious!

    xoxo,
    TDR

  18. 18 Morrisquads

    Would I be wrong to say Marshmallow, Peanut Butter, Chocolate, AND Bananas together on toast makes the best Sandwich? Never Mayo… yuck!

  19. 19 ESC

    holy crap! I’m going to blog about our food controversies more often. THIS POST BROUGHT KURT OUT OF HIDING!

    I’m so proud.

    next time I make a nanner sammich, I’m going to drizzle on chocolate syrup. mmmm….

  20. 20 Aimee

    In honor of the babies?

  21. 21 Nathan Williams

    Let’s see.
    - Margarine: Always wrong, for anything, anywhere.
    - Mayonnaise: Usually wrong, unless I make it myself, in which case I make it with garlic, so wrong for this.

    You might be able to talk me into one that used butter, though.

  22. 22 Jan

    It looks like I am one of the few… the proud… part of the nana and mayo crowd. Untoasted bread with round slices.

  23. 23 confiance

    I hate banannas, but I hate mayo even more. Also not fond of cream cheese.

    Clearly, I shall one day starve.

  24. 24 grace

    Banana sandwich = gross, regardless of condiments.

  25. 25 Keri

    Peanut Butter….all the way. Preferably chunky. Oh my, there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere…..

  26. 26 Seth

    Holy comments! I’m impressed ESC. You have truly found the divisive issue plaguing the globe.

    Maybe it’s an Alabama thing? My mom would put a light layer of mayo on my peanut butter banana sammiches. I inquired one day about it and she claimed it was to prevent slippage between the bread and banana.

    Throughout my life I always hid putting mayo onto my PB banana sandwich for fear of ridicule. I don’t put mayo on them anymore.

    Strawberry jam will make it onto my next banana sandwich. I will try PB and cucumber just for cybele.

    There is a reason that one of the few condiments KFC carries is honey. It’s freakin’ delicious on chicken.

  27. 27 jenifleur

    Mayo. Sorry. Possibly PB if one isn’t allergic and needs to lay down a foundation layer prior to boozing. But margarine? Isn’t that like congealed butter-flavored cooking oil? I also recommend mayo on saltines and french fries. Just don’t put it on cabbage. Slaw…yuck /shudder

  28. 28 brighton

    We use peanut butter or honey. Mayo? Ewwwwww.

  29. 29 Cynthia

    MMM…banana cut in long slices, crunchy peanut butter, strawberry simply fruit on either whole wheat bread or a toasted english muffin. YUM!

  30. 30 Rosco

    Marshmallow creme.

  31. 31 z.

    I’ve never had bannana sandwiches but I would put Nutella on them. (PB would be the second best)

    My mom used to eat banana tacos (w/ soft corn tortilla)

  32. 32 Nin

    200 years ago y’all would be evolving a new language (American, anyone?) and 200 years from now someone would be trying to trace the etymology of nanner and sammich. And why jams and ‘jams are two completely unrelated items. They’d get a phd.

    PB and B, untoased, rounds. No matter how big the B, use the whole thing. Just make thicker slices. Use unsalted, unsugared PB. Smash the samwich with the heel of your hand to keep the B from falling out. Oh, and organic whole wheat everything if possible.

Comments are currently closed.