Banana Bread

There is always this bit of confusion whenever I send someone a piece of snack calling it bread yet it taste and looks to them like cake. Banana bread is one of such offers that returns to me with a thank you note reading "the cake was yummy" when in fact what I sent out was christened "bread".

While the distinguishing line between banana cake and bread is almost invisible by most consumers, for a good number of recipes, the deciding factor on whether it is a cake or bread depends on the baker. In some cases, the only arguable difference is the bread version uses all purpose flour or wheat flour making it dense and satisfying while the cake version uses cake flour and sometimes sour cream to make the texture light and airy.

Whenever I bake, the first question I am confronted with by those around is "what is this?". Due to wrong guesses in the past, many who receive my baked product, call with the question, "what is the name of this thing?". Sometimes, I wonder why they always want to have a name?, is it really worth calling me up to ask?, Why worry so much about what it is called? "Just eat it and enjoy" is often my final answer.

Interestingly, the debate over what a meal is called did not start today. During the exodus from Egypt to Cannan, the Isrealites were confronted with the same dilemma. "What is it?" they asked each other when they saw the round flake like substance all around their camp (Exodus 16:15).

This question got to their leader Moses, and I expected him to respond as most bakers would by giving it a direct name like "flaky wafers" or "frosty bread" but his response was a whole sentence. "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat", he went further to add, "The Lord says, each of you should gather what you need, a basket of manna for everyone in your family."Exodus 16:16. Moses unwittingly in that response, revealed what our attitude should be towards food- Food is a gift from God, it must not be wasted and should be shared by everyone.

Every food that arrives your plate be it an appetizer, main dish or dessert or whether considered as balanced diet or not is a gift from a Loving Father. Looking at the Genesis account of creation, have you ever wondered what was there about a garden that made it man's first abode? It was because of food. God's first tangible gift to creation was food (Gen. 1:29). When we receive food as a gift from God, we unconsciously unlock the nourishment stored in that food for our bodies and express gratitude to a God who has given us, not only the Bread of life - Jesus, but also graciously provides our daily bread.

Food, like every good and perfect gift that comes from above must not be wasted. The Isrealites were allowed to gather so much only in accordnace to their need. The man who gathered much had no left overs and the one who gathered little had no lack (Exodus 16:17-18). If we applied this approach, maybe the estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted annually would not exist. Overfeeding and gluttony will be a thing of the past if we all adjust to having in our pots and plates the amount of food we truly need.

In the Gospel according to John 6:5-11, Jesus was said to have fed 5,000 men but on a closer look, the real story is, a young boy shared his lunch with 5,000 men besides women and children. How amazing to know what miracles the food we share can provoke. Upon hearing the question from Jesus "where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" a young boy showed up with his snacks and was willing to share it. I imagine Andrew was possibly jesting when he asked "what is five barley loaves and two small fishes among so many?". Like Andrew, the persepctive we lack is, the little we share can go a long way to salvage others. It has been estimated that in every minute about 11 people die from hunger and malnutrition- 11 persons we perhaps can save if we share our food with them.

In reality, worrying about the name of food is not as important as your attitude towards food. Ofcourse, it is morally right for you to know what food you consume but what would have a greater impact on you and those around you is how you treat every food that comes your way be it raw or cooked, home made or store bought, vegan or not and bearing in mind the admonition of 1 Corinthians 10:31 to eat, drink, and do everything to the glory of God.

As humans, we do not have the innate tendency to eat, drink or do things to the glory of God. This is why Jesus Christ, the true bread from heaven was given. I encourage you to come to Him and learn, not the forced rhythm of life, but the way and the method to living a life that glorifies God even with food.

You can attempt this banana bread recipe. It is super easy to make and I'm certain you'll find you don't need to be a master baker to ace this one. To prepare you need:

1.5 cup of mashed ripe bananas

113 grams of melted butter or margarine

135 grams of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of chocolate chips

METHOD

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 180°C.
Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and line with baking paper or dust off with flour.
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl using a paddle or a hand held mixer on low speed for about 2-3 minutes.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, then tap the pan to pop any air pockets.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes.
Allow to cool in the pan for some minutes, run a knife around the sides, then invert it onto a rack.
Give thanks, have a slice of it, brew a cup of tea and remember to share with others.