Banana Herb

Thought to be a native plant of tropical Asia, the banana was introduced into the Caribbean and then to Central America and Costa Rica sometime after the Spanish invasion. The banana cultivating started in 1878 (the first 360 stems were shipped to New Orleans). Costa Rica became the first Central American nation to plant bananas.
According to banana.com the banana plant is not a tree, it’s actually the world's largest herb! Learn something new every day. Banana “trees” are mainly tall, upright, and fairly sturdy, but the main stem is called a pseudostem, literally meaning a “fake stem.” Each stem can produce a bunch of yellow, green, or even red bananas before dying and being replaced by another banana plant. Bananas are a valuable source of vitamin B6, vitamin c, and potassium.
In Costa Rica plantains are a popular fruit in their cuisine. A plantain is in the banana family but is cooked instead of eaten raw like the typical sweet banana. When the plantain has a green skin it has a texture similar to potatoes yet has much more starch. A fully ripened one has a sweet texture that crosses between a sweet potato and a regular banana.
Every day I have either plantains or bananas for breakfast, I don’t know which one is which yet. For lunch, I sometimes have fried plantains or banana chips. I like them both. By the end of the trip I will hopefully be able to tell the two apart.
In Costa Rica, ripe bananas from an entire bunch are peeled and boiled slowly for hours to make a thick syrup which is called "honey".