It’s true that it doesn’t take much to make Gordon Ramsay curse – anyone familiar with his cooking shows is accustomed to hearing him bleeped dozens of times throughout the episode. While the mouthy chef often swears in frustration at incompetent cooks, sometimes he eats something so good — like Hawaiian banana bread — that he simply can’t help himself. In the Hawaii episode (Season 1, Episode 4) of National Geographic’s “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted,” Chef Ramsay visits Aunt Sandy’s Banana Bread on the Ke’anae Peninsula looking for inspiration for a Hawaiian food cook-off and leaves with a bagful of the famous fruit loaves.
Following a breathtaking and somewhat harrowing, stormy drive on the Road to Hana — a scenic highway along the Maui coastline that’s surrounded by lush rainforests and breathtaking waterfalls — Ramsay reaches the beloved roadside stand, Aunt Sandy’s. After helping the talented bakers make a batch of the beloved banana bread, Ramsay can’t help but drop an F-bomb while describing how delicious it is, then apologizes and says, “Banana bread that makes you curse, it’s that good.” The bread certainly looks moist and delicious on camera, and it’s made with simple ingredients including flour, sugar, salt, melted butter, and a large pitcher of mushed-up bananas.
In addition to traditional Polynesian foods like poi, Hawaiian Huli Huli chicken, and kalua pork, Hawaii is known for its tasty cuisine that blends ingredients from various cultures around the world — spam musubi, manapua, and malasadas, to name a few. Particularly in Maui, banana bread is another Hawaiian food staple that can be found for sale at numerous bakeries on the picturesque island.
The origins of banana bread in Hawaii may date back to the early 1900s when a war shipping shortage hindered exports of goods, leaving a surplus of bananas on the Islands. To make use of the numerous bananas, Hawaiians came up with various recipes, including banana bread. Today, the state of Hawaii is the number one producer of bananas in the U.S. by far, producing 5.14 million pounds on 332 acres in 2022.
The main variety of bananas grown in Hawaii are apple bananas, which are small and slightly tangy but also sweeter than other varieties. The sweetness of apple bananas, combined with their creamy texture contribute to the tastiness of Hawaiian banana bread, making it an extra special comfort food that, as Ramsay points out, is “like a slice of Hawaiian heaven.” Generally speaking, Maui banana bread is also incredibly moist and denser than other breads — it’s more like cake texture. You’ll also find different varieties of Hawaiian banana bread, as some are plain, while others incorporate ingredients like pineapple bits, macadamia nuts, and coconut.
Where to get the banana bread that Gordon Ramsay loves
Hana Highway (known as the Road to Hana), a 64-mile stretch from Kahului to Hana, is home to some of the tastiest banana bread around. In addition to scenic spots like the Hana Lava Tube, no trip along the highway is complete without a stop at a scrumptious location like Aunt Sandy’s. According to their website, the famous fruit stand has been around since 2003, although Aunt Sandy Hueu has been making banana bread since 1983.
Aunt Sandy’s isn’t the only roadside stand recommended by Chef Ramsay. According to High Life, he tells readers to “pull over and get as much banana bread as you can manage” at “a little shack” aptly named Halfway to Hana for its location on the Road to Hana. Per their website, this popular snack shop has been around for 30 years and started as “a simple lean-to on the side of the road.” The self-proclaimed “home of the original banana bread” makes fresh bread daily that is “melt in your mouth delicious.”
If you can’t make it to Hawaii for a fresh loaf of banana bread, make your own at home with Aunt Sandy’s banana bread mix, which can be purchased on their website. Or you can always make some from scratch by experimenting with different recipes — just make sure to avoid these banana bread mistakes and follow these tips to make it right, including adding zucchini for incredibly tender banana bread.
