A Swede in the kitchen

S:t Lucia is just now celebrating its 34th Independence day.

So, in honor of that, I would like to show you what a breadfruit is. Before I met my husband, I had no idea myself. Now it is one of my favorite carbs. Breadfruit is very common in the Caribbean but even more so in Asia. It is eaten as a “potato” to any meal. My mother-in-law has taught me how to buy it and cook it. You have to smell it in the store. It has the most fragrant smell ever. Just like a sweet perfume. To cook it, you can steam it, boil it, fry it, bake it & also roast it over fire. This is a  common way to prepare it in Jamaica. My Jamaican neighbor almost fell over the fence the first time she saw me roasting breadfruit on my BBQ grill in the back yard. She said, “I must call my friends and tell them that this Swedish girl next door is roasting breadfruit just like a Jamaican!” Ha, Yes and I also eat them like a true Caribbean girl!!! A treat for me is roasted breadfruit. If I can choose only one thing to eat for the rest of my life, this is a great contender. A Puerto Rican friend also taught me how to make tostones out of breadfruit. So there you go, try breadfruit if you are given the chance. It truly is so good. I never thought I would say this, but it almost beats potatoes (and I love potatoes).

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A beautiful Breadfruit.

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The breadfruit tree is usually a very large tree (unless you keep trimming it). The fruits themselves are very heavy and you better be careful walking underneath a tree.

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You need to cut out the steam and make a little hole so that the heat from the fire can penetrate into the center of the breadfruit. Keep turning it while roasting.

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Don’t be afraid of it charing. It is supposed to. When it is totally back, it is done.

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When cut in half, it is very beautiful. When you cook it, you must cut off the peel and also quite a bit of the center.

It is easier to do this if you cook it in “quarters/cut into 4 pieces”.

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Enjoy!!!