Thomas Johnson, First, Went Bananas
Thomas Johnson (between 1595 and 1600 – 1644) was an herbalist, botanist and a prominent member of the Apothecaries’ Company in the City of London.
Johnson’s life was exceedingly active, combining his practice as an apothecary with further botanical excursions, drawing and describing the specimens collected, editing previously published herbals, and undertaking translations.
Among other things he ‘’enlarged and amended” John Gerard’s popular botanical encyclopedia, ‘The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes’:
Johnson’s legacy is significant, and he is said to be “the best herbalist of his age in England,” and ‘’the father of British field botany.”
Robert Brown, the celebrated 18/19th Century Scottish botanist, even named a plant Johnsonia is in recognition of the 17th century English naturalist.
When Nathaniel Couthope’s ship brought back his precious cargo of spices from Bermuda, Johnson was particularly excited to see the strange yellow fruit that was also on board.
He displayed the bananas in the window of his shop located on Snow Hill in Holborn, London, along with a woodcut from ‘The Herball’ detailing this curious and exotic botanical species ‘Musa Sapientum’, or “fig banana”.
Those are a smaller, sweeter, and firmer type than the ones we find everywhere today (might I say sadly?), the Cavendish bananas, that have became the most widely cultivated and consumed bananas in the world.
Then, London Went Bananas
At the time, bananas were completely unknown in England, and their arrival caused quite a stir. People gathered in crowds to see the new fruit, which had an unusual appearance with its elongated shape and yellow skin, a strange shape and color compared to the fruits growing in the British orchards
Only the wealthiest curious got to try and taste it though, because the bananas were sold for the steep price of two shillings each, which was equivalent to about £10 in today’s money. But once they tried it, they were amazed by its exotic sweetness and creamy texture.
Bananas remained a luxury item for nearly two centuries, and it wasn’t until the 1800s that they became regularly available in England, and even then, they were still considered a novelty and luxury.
Hang on to your peels
In the 20th century however, bananas became a widely consumed fruit in England and throughout Europe, thanks to the expansion of banana plantations in the Caribbean and other tropical regions, as well as improvements in transportation and refrigeration technology.
Today, bananas are one of the most popular fruits in the world, a versatile ingredient that can be enjoyed in many different ways.
Today the British spend more on bananas than on any other item from supermarket shelves: the annual consumption is 12kg per person (about two bananas per person and per week).
Helene
