Pisang Emas

‘Golden bananas’—small, thin-skinned, deep yellow, and I think equivalent to the West Indian Sucrier variety. My grandmother used to tell me a story which all Indonesian children hear so that they may know how the world goes: a bunch of pisang ambon were throwing their weight about on a market stall and being very arrogant towards some less-impressive looking pisang emas. A tall, handsome Dutchman in riding boots walked into the market-place, and picked up the pisang ambon. ‘There, you see! Only the finest Ambon bananas are good enough for the tuan.’ But he bought some of the pisang emas as well, and started eating them on the spot. The pisang ambon were for his horse.