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Ackee tree in my backyard |
Captain Bligh
brought the breadfruit from Otaheite (Tahiti) to Jamaica and took the
Ackee from Jamaica to England for study. But what about all
the other amazing fruit our country is blessed with.
Jamaica is
the largest English speaking island in the Caribbean at
4411 sq miles (1453 sq km) but in
that small area the elevation ranges from 0 to 7200ft and
the climate from dry scrubland to rain forest. Sitting in my
home office in a Kingston suburb in July the temperature now
is 84°F (28°C). Were I to go to Newcastle, it would probably
be 70° and in Hellshire it may be close to 100°. These are
places both about an hours drive from home.
Simply put our climate is quite
diverse which allows a very wide variety of fruit to grow
here. I'm about to undertake the monumental task of trying
to catalogue some of them, an undertaking which, if
comprehensively done, may take a great many years! |
A breadfruit tree |
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The obvious first item on the
list would have to be Allspice; described in the
Oxford Dictionary as
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"Jamaica Pepper" Eugenia Pimenta: Native Tree the berries of which are a
popular spice which tastes like a combination of several other spices.
An evergreen tree
rarely more than 15 ft (4.5m) tall. Both leaves and
berries can be used to achieve that wonderful flavour.
However, only the dried berries are exported, both whole and
in ground form, as the leaves lose all flavour when dried. A
popular spice worldwide: used in cakes in England,
Cincinnati Chili in the U.S.A., curry in India and sausages
in Germany as well as being indispensible in Middle Eastern
cuisine. The essential oil is also used in medicine.
Jamaica
produces roughly 90% of the world's pimento. Efforts to grow
pimento from seed outside of the country have not been very
successful and should you try to leave the Island with a
sapling, it would likely be seized by Customs.
Pimento is
also one of the two main ingredients of Jerk Seasoning and
authentic Jerk must be cooked over a fire of pimento wood. |
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As we're on
"A" let's deal next with Ackee,Jamaica's
national fruit,
named blighia sapida for Bligh himself. Thought to be originally brought here by slaves from East
Africa, Bligh carried it to England to his friend and
sponsor, Sir Joseph Banks, who catalogued and named it. The
name ackee is an Ashanti word.
Ackee trees can grow up to
40 feet (12m) tall and have leathery leaves. However, to
facilitate picking the fruit and also as the brittle limbs
are prone to hurricane damage, trees are usually pruned to
15-20 feet. The fruit is a hard reddish orange seed case
which opens to expose three yellow pegs, each with a large
black seed. The
cooked ackee fruit has the consistency and appearance of
scrambled eggs; in fact in Cuba it is called vegetable
egg.
Warning: The fruit must be allowed to open on
the tree to allow the hypoglycin toxins to dissipate,
forcing open the fruit for consumption can cause poisoning.
All pink membranes must also be removed from the yellow
fruit for the same reason and the fruit must be cooked.
Canned ackees, strictly
regulated by the Jamaica Bureau of Standards, can be found
in supermarkets in many parts of the world. |
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The Breadfruit
is of course what Capt. Bligh was most famous for.
Breadfruit trees can grow as tall as 70ft (20m) but like the
ackee are extremely brittle and often torn apart in heavy
winds. The leaves are very large, 12-15" long and pinnate.
In Hawaii and some other countries they are used to create
patterns in stepping stones. The sap of the tree is a kind
of latex. In some parts of the South Pacific the wood is
used to build both canoes and houses as it is resistant to
termites.
The tree is
monoecious which means the same tree bears both male and
female flowers. Breadfruit "blossoms" which are really the
young spear-like fruit are sometimes made into preserves.
The fruit is
nearly perfectly round about 5-7" (13-18cm) in diameter with
a rough skin with hexagonal markings. The meat is white or
cream coloured and very starchy. Breadfruit may be boiled,
roasted or fried. The breadfruit tree has a very high yield
and the average tree bears between 50 and 200 fruit per
year. |
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A favourite
seasonal fruit of Jamaica, also brought here by Bligh, is the
Otaheite Apple,
syzygium
malaccense.
It
is a pear shaped fruit with a deep red skin and pure white,
mild-flavoured crunchy flesh around one large brown seed.
The tree grows to about 12-16 ft (4-5m) tall. Early in the
year the tree will break out into pretty pink pom-pom like
blossoms, followed by the fruit.
The fruit is most popularly
eaten raw but is also made into juice and preserves.
There is also a relative, the rose apple,
syzygium
jambos,
which is smaller, yellow and round and is so called because
of it's distinct fragrance. This variety grows in the cooler
foothills while the Otaheite Apple grows all across the
Island. |
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The Pawpaw,
carica papaya, known as papaya in most other parts of the
world is native to the Caribbean and the Tropical Americas.
This fruit was taken to the Pacific by the Spanish a few
centuries before Bligh.
The tree is about
8-12 ft (3-4m) tall but can grow much taller. The fruit grow
directly on the trunk of the tree not hanging from branches.
The pear shaped
fruit is about 5-6" long and has a soft orange flesh with a
central cavity filled with hundreds of gel covered black
seeds. Some varieties bear larger fruit but the smaller,
Sunrise variety are most popular and are exported. The
pawpaw is probably the most popular breakfast fruit in
Jamaica.
Both the young
fruit and the sap are rich in the enzyme, papain, which is
used as a meat tenderiser. It is also used in medicine as an
anti-inflammatory and to treat digestive ailments. In bush
medicine the unripe pawpaw and/or the seeds are supposed to
have a contraceptive and abortive effect. Modern research
shows that there may be some basis for this belief but very
large quantities would be needed. |
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The Naseberry,
Manilkara zapotilla, is called sapodilla in some countries.
It is native to the Caribbean and the Tropical Americas.
Naseberry trees can grow over 100 ft (30m) tall. The 1˝-2"
(5cm) round fruit have a rough brown skin and greenish brown
to deep brown flesh. The texture is slightly gritty like a
pear but the flavour is sweeter and richer. The seeds are
flat and shiny black. The tree bears twice a year but the
season is very long and naseberries can be found almost year
round.
Many years ago,
explorers noticed that the native Indians in Central America
chewed the sap of the tree, which they called chicle. An
enterprising New Yorker called Thomas Adams imported the
chicle, sweetened and flavoured it and in 1876 chewing gum
was born. |
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Cocoa,
theobroma cacao, is a
small tree which usually grows 6-10 ft (2-3m) tall. The
trees are often planted on hillsides as the roots help to
prevent soil erosion.
Very thick pods grow directly
from the trunk. The pods are picked, split open and the
seeds and mucilage removed and piled unto grates which
allows the mucilage to slough off. The beans are then
gathered and spread out on barbeques in the sun like those
used for drying coffee. The dried beans are then processed.
In Jamaican supermarkets, traditionally processed chocolate
is available right beside the more refined factory processed
varieties. The difference in flavour is as great as between
fresh Blue Mountain coffee and instant! Unrefined cocoa
butter is also available in local pharmacies and has been a
favourite beauty product from the time of the Tanios.
The history of
Cocoa is documented thousands
of years ago in Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs
thought cacao to be divine and the word theobroma means food
of the gods. They also used cocoa beans as money. One could
buy a slave for 100 beans or the services of a prostitute
for 20! The Mayas invented chocolate. Chocolate was
introduced to Europe in 1544 when Dominican monks took a
delegation of Mayans to be introduced to the King of Spain.
They carried chocolate as gifts.
Cocoa was a thick drink mixed
with chilies which Europeans did not like. The Spanish added
vanilla, cinnamon and sugar and the drink became an instant
hit. The French deemed it an aphrodisiac and placed huge
taxes on it.
Upon Jamaica's
capture by the British in 1655 we became the main supplier
of chocolate. Sir Hans Sloane, the first person to catalogue
Jamaica' s flora and fauna, did not like the brew and added
milk to it. When he returned to England he introduced the
mixture to apothecaries who sold it as a medicine. In the
nineteenth century, The Cadbury Brothers packaged and sold
the product commercially as "Sir Hans Sloane's Milk
Chocolate".
Jamaican chocolate
is still highly prized by Swiss chocolatiers. |
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Custard Apple,
Annona reticulata; Sweetsop, Annona squamosa
and Soursop, Annona muricata
are three related fruit native to the Caribbean and the rest
of the Tropical Americas.
The trees are
10-26 ft (3-8m) tall and appear very similar though there
are slight variations in the leaves.
The custard apple
is globular with a brownish orange skin and custardy meat.
The sweetsop is heart shaped with the skin in many
easily separated pegs and remains green when ripe but with a
slight yellowing where the pegs meet. It has a similar
flavour to custard apple. Both varieties are called sugar
apples in some countries. The soursop, called guanabano in
Latin America, is irregularly shaped with a bumpy
skin; the flavour is tarter than the other two. All three
fruit have multiple seeds, each surrounded by creamy white
flesh. |
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Two Crazy Nuts
Nuts are usually
the edible seed found inside a fruit, right? well not in at
least two cases.
Peanuts,
arachis hypogaea, native to the Tropical Americas. It is
technically a legume but the shell-like pods do not grow
from the branches but rather from the roots. Peanuts
travelled a long distance to become popular in North America
as they were taken from South America by the Portuguese to
West Africa and then brought back to the United States from
West Africa.
On the Cashew
tree,
anacardium occidentale,
the seed grows
outside the fruit. That's because the fruit is not really a
fruit at all, the actual fruit is the kidney shaped covering
of the seed. The cashew apple is delicious stewed and has a
distinct flavour. Don't try roasting your own cashew nuts at
home for, as nice as the nuts are, the smell of roasting
cashews is not very pleasant. Also the seed pods may explode
in your oven. Cashew is also native to Tropical America. |
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| Spices |
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Ginger,zingiber
officinale, originally from China, is very popular
locally and is used a lot in cooking and to flavour
juices. Ginger tea is a popular herbal medicine used most
commonly for indigestion. It is also used, though unproven,
to treat arthritis and heart disease.
People with gall bladder problems or on blood thinning
medication should not use ginger. |
Cinnamon,
c. zeylanicum, originally from
the Indian subcontinent is used in almost all baked goods in
Jamaica. Fresh cinnamon sticks are often used in porridge
and cocoa.
Though the spice
has been used for years in "bush" medicine, here and
elsewhere, scientists are only now understanding its amazing
anti-oxidant properties.
Most of the
commercial cinnamon sold in the U. S. is not true cinnamon
but rather cassia. |
Nutmeg, myristica fragrans, native to
Indonisia is actually two different spices. The lacy yellow
shell covering is mace and the nut inside is nutmeg.
Fresh nutmegs and grater are still a staple in many Jamaican
kitchens.
Like many other
herbs and spices, nutmeg is used in herbal medicine and the
essential oil is used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Nutmeg in large
quantities can be fatal. |
Bay Leaf, Laurus nobilis, originated in the
Mediterranean. Though it is possible that the Jamaican bay
leaf is syzygium polyanthum, a relative of allspice. The
flavour is the same as imported bay leaves.
Bay leaves are
used here both in cooking and medicine. Every country house
has a bottle of bay rum, not for drinking, but used
externally for fainting spells and to ease headaches. In the
days before commercial aftershaves every Jamaican man had a
bottle of bay rum on his dresser. |
Thyme, thymus vulgaris, is by far the most
popular herb in Jamaican cooking. Almost every meat or
vegetable dish is cooked with the addition of thyme.
It grows almost anywhere from the harsh dry south coast to
the lush foothills.
Thyme is also a
wonderful medicinal herb and the tea is used to treat coughs
and bronchitis.
It also has
great antiseptic qualities and wounds were once dressed in
bandages wrung out in thyme tea. Thyme is also the active
ingredient in Listerine. |
The Usual Suspects
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There is disagreement among
scientists as to whether the Coconut Palm, Cocos
nucifera, originated in South Asia or the West Indies.
Dry coconuts are very buoyant and can float for miles across
the ocean, wash up on a beach somewhere and grow into a
coconut palm.
For those people
who know only canned coconut cream and dried coconut in
packages here's something mind-boggling. In ancient Sanskrit
the coconut palm is called kalpa vriksha, which
translates as "the tree which provides all the necessities
of life". No modern language could have a better
description. Were you stranded on the proverbial desert
island with a few coconut trees you would be provided with
food, clothing, shelter and medicine. Most people are
familiar with the white meat of the ripe coconut which is
grated and dried or infused to make coconut cream.
The juice of the
young coconut, coconut water, contains vitamins, minerals,
protein, carbohydrates and anti-oxidants. The high
electrolyte content makes it a better sports drink than any
commercial product. This coconut water can also be used as
intravenous fluid. The sap from the flowers can be fermented
into wine.
The dried meat,
known as copra, is used as oil and for livestock food. A
more refined oil is produced by boiling coconut cream. The
dried husk can be used, like gourds, as houses for small
birds or cut horizontally, as a brush to polish your floors.
They also make pretty decent drinking vessels and are used
as musical instruments in the Philippines. They are also
widely used as orchid pots. The dried husks also make
excellent kindling. The shredded husk, coir, is woven
into ropes and mats and also used in flower baskets just as
other countries use sphagnum moss. A woven-looking fabric
which grows on the tree under the fruit was used in ancient
times as loin cloths.
The tree trunk
provides excellent lumber and is now gaining popularity as a
sustainable wood. The stumps are used in some parts of the
world as drums.
The leaves are
thatch and most of the huts on tropical hotel beaches are
thatched with coconut. The leaves are also woven into hats
and baskets. The centre rib can be used as arrows, skewers
or fishing spears. In times past many a Jamaican child was
disciplined with a coconut switch.
An infusion of the
roots are used as mouthwash and as a treatment for
dysentery.
And when you get
sick of your desert island, hollow out the trunk of a tree
into a canoe and get out of there! |
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Mango,
mangifera, brought to Jamaica by indentured East Indians in
the nineteenth century. Many varieties grow here though two
varieties of Haydn, Tommy Atkins and Beefy, are
exported. |
Sugarcane,
Saccharum, originally brought here by Columbus on his
second voyage, Jamaica's first export crop. Hundreds of
European fortunes were made on King Sugar and thousands of
African slaves died for it. |
Pineapple,
Ananas comosus, is a bromiliad, native to parts of
South America and carried from there to Cental America and
the Caribbean in pre-Columbian times. The Spanish took it to
the Philippines and Hawaii in the mid nineteenth century. |
A bunch of very
young Bananas (musa) in my back yard with the
prehistoric looking blossom still attached. Bananas
originated in the South Pacific and were brought to this
hemisphere by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century.
Cooked green bananas are a popular starch in Jamaica. |
| Last but not
least - FIRE! |
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The
Scotch Bonnet Pepper is a naturally occurring relative
(not a cultivar) of the habanero,
Capsicum
chinense. Habanero are
native to the Greater Antilles and habanero means from
Havana. The Scotch Bonnet is native to Jamaica.
It
looks like a squashed habanero or a Scotsman’s “bonnet”,
hence the name. The peppers grow on a shrub similar to other
peppers but taller and thinner and the leaves are shiny.
In 1912 a
pharmacologist called Wilbur Scoville developed a system for
rating the hotness of peppers. On this scale the Jalapeno is
rated at 2,500-8,000; the Serrano at 8,000-22,000. The
standard habanero is 125,000-215,000 and the Scotch Bonnet
is 200,000-325,000 so treat it with respect if you are not
used to it.
Scotch
Bonnet Peppers are a necessary ingredient in Jamaican
cooking. The ripe peppers are used for that well known fire.
We also use whole green Scotch bonnets a lot
in soups and stews. This gives more of a fruity flavour and
less heat. |
So "That's it?" you ask, 'What about
guineps, what about June plums?" Be patient, more will follow.
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