Bananas Foster is the New Orleans Creole dessert combining bananas, brown sugar, cinnamon, and rum in a flambéed preparation.
The dessert was created in 1951 at Brennan’s restaurant in New Orleans. It was named for Richard Foster, who served as chairman of the New Orleans Crime Commission and was a friend of restaurant owner Owen Brennan. The dish became famous for its tableside preparation and dramatic flame.
To make Bananas Foster, bananas are cooked in a sauce of butter, brown sugar, and spices. Dark rum is added and ignited, producing the flambé effect. The finished bananas and sauce are traditionally served over vanilla ice cream. The alcohol burns off in part during flambéing, but the dish should still be prepared carefully by trained cooks.
Bananas Foster is sometimes grouped broadly with Louisiana desserts, but it is specifically associated with New Orleans restaurant culture rather than old rural Cajun cooking. It also differs from bananas flambé in general: Bananas Foster is the named New Orleans recipe with its established ingredients and origin.