Ackee & Saltfish: Cooking with Jamaica’s Most Controversial Fruit

‘Rona has forced me re-evaluate the purpose of Adventures from Elle, the kind of content I want to produce and how I want to engage with my small but vibrant community going forward. I started this blog in December 2016 to inspire and show others, mainly locals, how to explore my beautiful island home of Jamaica on a budget. Traveling off-the-beaten-path in Jamaica and writing about those experiences has grown my love and appreciation of Jamaica and our culture, introduced me to a loving positive community of local, regional and international bloggers, given me some memorable experiences I wouldn’t have had otherwise, grown my confidence, nurtured my creativity and developed into a hobby I thoroughly enjoy. I’ve also become an unofficial Jamaican ambassador of sorts!

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For those reasons, I’m here to talk about the Jamaican national dish of ackee and saltfish today. Last week a friend shared a picture of his lunch with me consisting of ackee and saltfish with boiled food (yam, dumplings etc.). The green eyed monster paid a visit as I stared at the picture for a few seconds longer than I cared to let him know. I realized I hadn’t had ackee in months, let alone ackee and saltfish. I don’t see any ackee trees or ackees selling in Mandeville, and it’s not on the menu of the restaurants I know. I longed for this delicious misunderstood fruit unique to Jamaica, I thought of how the saltfish I had in my fridge for a month would be the perfect accompaniment then shrugged and moved on with life. Then this happened!

A coworker of mine went home last weekend to visit her family in rural St. Andrew. She came back with a huge bag of the stuff and made my day by offering me a little over a dozen. I couldn’t wait to come home to make my ackee and saltfish, and I decided I’d write a whole blog post to savour the memory and share this interesting controversial DELICIOUS fruit and dish with you all.

Ackee, a small misunderstood red pear-shaped fruit which splits when ripe to reveal 3 yellow arils with black shiny seeds.

^{The unripened fruit, its seeds and arils contain the hypoglycin A and B toxins. These two molecules are converted in the body to a potent poison which depletes blood glucose levels to the point of hypoglycemia, causing a condition called known in medical literature as “Jamaican vomiting sickness” and even coma and death. However, I’ve scarcely heard of anyone coming down with these symptoms or even dying from ackee poisoning. Why? Every Jamaican knows never to pick the unripened fruit and how to safely prepare the ripe ones.}

Funny enough, we call ackee a fruit yet it requires cooking, and its nutrient composition is mostly fats. In fact, the US FDA lists ackee under fats and oils as a food group.

It’s safe to say that ackee is easily the world’s most controversial fruit!

Here is my step-by-step pictorial on how to safely prepare ackee and Jamaica’s national dish. You need not fear the ackee!

Ackee goes well with nearly everything! Disclaimer: We usually add more than onions and thyme but that’s all the seasoning I had at home, folks! It also calls for diced tomatoes, sweet pepper, scotch bonnet pepper and even black pepper, but I had to use cayenne pepper instead as a poor substitute.

Wrap Up

I hope you enjoyed this pictorial. I may do it again someday to continue sharing more of home with you. Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe! ‘Til next time, walk good! 👣

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