Susanna, my protagonist, has spent some time in de Islands, where dinner is served on the veranda with a balmy breeze and a dessert that makes the guests want to lick the bowl. You can make this recipe for any number of diners.

Ingredients per customer:

½ banana, sliced lengthwise, then in half (in the finished dish, the pieces should be recognizable but when they’re sautéing, they should be small enough to turn without breaking.)

2 Tbs. brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

2 Tbs butter

2Tbs rum

Method:

 Slice the bananas.

On a plate, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon

Roll each slice of banana in the sugar mixture, leaving a good coating of sugar and cinnamon on each.

Heat a large skillet full of butter to moderately high heat, until it’s foaming but not burning.

Put all the bananas in the skillet and let them cook a couple of minutes before turning, making a little caramel. Turn up the heat if it’s not cooking the sugar enough.  Turn and cook some more to caramelize the surface. Don’t let the bananas get mushy.

Turn off the flame. We don’t want to set the place on fire. Pour rum in the pan and light, tilting the pan to let  the alcohol burn off in a blue flame. Blow it out if the flame keeps burning the sauce.

Serve each guest some hot bananas in the bowl with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream. Never fails.