The Power of Breadfruit

Growing up in my wonderful island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines my love of breadfruit has been unwavering. This fruit has been a saviour when hunger strikes.. One slice of this pleasantry fills the body so wonderfully. 

Boy did I miss this stable for the 8 or so years that I lived abroad. Yes I know it was there and readily available in certain cities of the USA, i.e Brooklyn..but the taste wasn't the same... For some reason fruits and vegetables never taste good outside of the Caribbean. 

Disclaimer: In my humble opinion, Fruit, vegetables anything esle from mother earth always seem to have this "force ripe" taste to them when grown outside the Caribbean.....

Breadfruit & Saltfish - SVG National Dish

Can you imagine having to roast your breadfruit on stove tops instead of enjoying the cookout in the great outdoors? Kills the spirits, doesn't it? 

Where's the coal pot, the wood fire? I think fondly of my childhood as I savoured the sweet smell of black fish.........stewed chicken back....saltfish.....fried fish.... with my plate of breadfruit slices.. After such a meal I was ahungered no more...... Oh the memories..........

The breadfruit plant was introduce to the Caribbean as a means of cutting cost to plantation owners.. Instead of having to import goods from overseas to feed slaves, breadfruit was introduces as the new stable. Thank goodness for that foresight. Captain Blight brought this worthy commodity to the Island of SVG.

Roasting on wood fire

We in SVG have a strong love of this gift, ask one former prime minister, The Right Hon. James F Mitchell, who stated that we "Vincentians" "have a breadfruit mentality", for which he came under fire for... Applaud the opposition for spewing the rhetoric.. But he wasn't wrong at all.. We do crave our delicacy, after all it is part of our national dish along with saltfish.. 

A stable available year round, happy to be seeing so much of it at the market though the prices are a bit steep $5. But for such a commodity..roasted or cooked I am not complaining at all... 

Bite into one of nature's best gift 

Sustang D. Fergus