Martinique (where I’m lucky to be at the moment) is heavily influenced by the French culture. If you’re so inclined, you can spend your days here eating croissants, frits and dame blanches with some punch coco thrown in for local flavour. As I can get enough of French cuisine in my usual base of operations in Brussels, I was determined to search for the authentic and different. But I have to admit that my first food-related revelation hasn’t quite been what I expected.

The hotel where I’m staying offers a standard, mediocre breakfast buffet and I was eating myself through it with an absentminded uninspiredness, until I chanced upon banana jam. The bowl of brown goo didn’t look too promising, but at least more interesting than choco pops or scrambled eggs. I scooped some on my plate, spread it on toast and was hooked from the first bite. I immediately bought a jar at a local shop and I have finished it in two days.

Why isn’t eveybody eating this? Why is banana jam not universally available everywhere in the world? I understand that people are to a certain extent used to eating jams made of berries and fruits that grow close to them. But orange marmalade and apricot jam are sold in most Estonian and Belgian stores while I haven’t noticed an abundance of orange and apricot trees in those places. We definitely need to broaden our horizons.

I’m not sure I’m able to describe the taste itself very accurately, except to say that it’s addictive. The variety I’ve been eating is quite dark (I know there are also lighter versions, but I’ve yet to try any) and has the texture similar to some of plum and damson jams I’ve had. The taste seems fruitier than that of bananas and deeper and has a distinct undertone of caramel. I’m guessing the sugar used in the jam is turned into a syrup/caramel first. In any case, it tastes amazing.

I’m planning to buy about 10 jars to take home with me and if I cannot locate any in Brussels, I must learn to make it. Existence without banana jam is meaningless.