Eat me!

This is a follow up of a previous blog (April 10th) about the jackfruit (Artocarpus Heterophyllus.) This is the full fruiting season of this tree in Miami and I am lucky to stumble on this particular one. It is rare to find a tree so loaded with fruits. This may win the Guiness book of records if it is being kept somewhere. The jackfruit, as many other fruits, can be used for cooking when green and eaten as a fruit when ripened.

This fruit has heavy and sticky latex that is a real nuisance. The latex easily sticks to any surface and it is not easy to remove. If it gets to your shirt, your shirt is a goner! Do not cut the fruit until you have drained as much latex as possible. One way to do that is to drive a large stick to where the stem is, stick it in the ground in your neighbor's yard and let the latex drain through the stick. When cut open, the interior consists of large "bulbs" of yellow and vaguely banana-flavored but very strongly scented thick flesh. That is the part that is eaten. The detached bulbs are seen in the inserts of the photo. Each bulb encloses a large thumb size, smooth, slippery, oval, light brown seed covered by a thin membrane. There may be 100 to up to 500 seeds in a single large fruit. When fully ripe, the unopened jackfruit emits a strong disagreeable odor while the pulp of the opened fruit smells of strong mix of pineapple and banana, but distinctively "jackfruit." Once the taste is acquired, this fruit is delicious. I like it.

The seeds are eaten boiled or roasted. Good to eat, but this is worse than baked beans for after effects. Trust me, don't eat it.