The Humble, Reliable Banana Bread Is Having A Quarenaissance In The Midst Of The Coronavirus Pandemic
If there has been one silver lining to the unprecedented mess that has been 2020, it's that we've all been empowered to try new things from the comfort of our own homes. (See: why so many pictures on social media are the product of someone's stress baking!) And while every third photo you've come across is a beautifully frosted cupcake from a friend you know can't hold a piping bag for shit or a meticulously salted and braided challah by a cousin you know doesn't have the patience to braid her own hair, every second photo is a dark, compact rectangle with no aesthetically pleasing qualities or seemingly (seemingly!) any flavor.
It's...a banana bread.
Right now, in kitchens across this country, there are so, so many banana breads. Why, you might ask, as you are totally moshing together your twelfth loaf of the pandemic? She, unlike the sourdoughs and three-tiered confections that engulf her in the feeds, is an unambitious bake—a very low-maintenance gal whose reliability to always make you feel good has made her the Queen of the Quarantine. The edible version of Office re-runs, if you will. In fact, hear me out: The winner of 2020's self-isolation period is, hands down, the sad, stout, low-key banana bread.
Firstly, if you're still stuck on why something so mundane would be crowned such a thing, it seems obvious to me that it is the low-risk, high-reward nature of a banana bread that makes it the perfect project for all those who have accepted the current new realities of the world.
The strict rule-following of an aggressive baking project can be a turn-on if you're still coming to terms with the fact that life is going to be very, very different for a minute—if you've not yet realized there's not much to be done about this distressingly real landscape other than to follow the health official-mandated rules. You dive—with all your remaining, vaguely optimistic energy, god bless—into a meticulous recipe knowing if you misstep even the tiniest bit, you could be dealing with something lumpy and thick. The tight rope walk between delicious success and not-as-delicious failure you now tip-toe stirs something sexy within...something you haven't felt since the last time you were outside without a makeshift mask and fear. But you are devastated when the final result isn't as perfect as the Pinterest pic!
Those a few days ahead of you in the coronavirus acceptance curve, my loves, are using their COVID-catalyzed listlessness to half-heartedly throw together a few bananas, some flour, and whatever-the-fuck kinda nuts they want into a bowl. They know the end result will be lumpy and thick. That knowledge feels good. An exercise in control while everything else is beyond it?? Throw that brown-on-brown mixture into the oven, daddy! Bake me!!
And while it's all well and good to want to make something beautiful when everything around you is dark as fuck, there is comfort in knowing that you can easily make something a bit more reflective of your mindset that'll still come out OK, if not pretty great. I take solace in the gloopy and dense banana bread loaves I see from all over the world—they look like they, too, haven't slept since news of the makeshift hospitals and pending peaks hit. They, too, have tried all the meditation apps their lying, chipper, cake-baking friends swear by to no avail.
That's what the 1.2 million-and-growing-every-day "#bananabreads" currently chilling on Instagram mean to me, at least. That even though it may be tempting to try hard and push yourself to be impressive while everything around you devolves (and while it seems like others might be holding it together leaps and bounds better than you are), it is so much more than fine to make something that everyone else can easily make and enjoy the mediocrity of that as well. The banana bread: an unenthusiastic icon.
You're still standing there, taking in the overly ripe banana smell emanating from your exhausted oven, not truly convinced that the baked good you've continued to return to over the past few weeks is a reflection of your self-actualized despair. Maybe you're more of a glass-half-full human that I gave you—and me—credit for. Maybe what's appealing about the sticky sameness of a loaf of banana bread is that at its core, it's a solid foundation for good things to come. You, stripped bare-as-a-banana and unpeeled, are nothing if not consistent. You, stuck in the confines of a home that's not quite as breathable as you'd like it to be, are just trucking along, knowing that when you're sprung free from the pan, you'll be the base of something great.
A slathering of cream cheese or a renewed sense of perspective—you know both are going to make you shine. Some strawberry preserves and a work ethic you never knew you had? You're going to be unstoppable at the end of the day.
Or not! Maybe the overwhelming banana bread pictures are just bored people doing boring things and we are all just sad and boring right now. Either way, let's all check in with our therapists! And, you know, keep making that bread.
In the mood to bake a loaf now? Thought so—start here:
You Might Also Like
