Breadfruit
Breadfruit, fruta de pan, árbol de pan, panapén
fruit à pain (French)
(Artocarpus communis or A. altilis or A. incisa -- Family Moraceae)
Breadfruit belongs to the same genus as the Jackfruit in the Mulberry family, and forms a staple starch in the diet of tropical inhabitants. Breadfruit is very similar in size and pulpy content to that of the jackfruit, but without the seeds. Most of the 200 or so named cultivars are seedless; however, exceptions do arise. The common forms which do produce seeds are then referred to as breadnuts and commonly sold in markets in Haiti, Malaysia, and New Guinea, where they are roasted and eaten like chestnuts. Breadfruit is a composite fruit with a structure like that of a pineapple, and its skin is similarly marked with a hexagonal pattern of fissures. Native to the Pacific and East Indies, the breadfruit tree is now naturalized throughout the tropics and grows large round to egg-shaped fruits, whose weight can range from less than a pound to almost seven. The tree is very tall and can reach heights of almost seventy feet. The fruit has a thick, warty, greenish skin and white, starchy, bread-like textured flesh, which can sometimes contain up to 200 edible seeds.
Breadfruit came to fame during the 1787 mutiny on the Bounty. The ship had been expressly sent by the government in London to take these plants to the West Indies. Captain Bligh had been with Captain Cook on his second voyage in 1772-4 when they had discovered the breadfruit at Otaheite and thought it could be a cheap, yet beneficial addition to the slave diet in the West Indies. After a ten-month voyage, the Bounty arrived at Otaheite in 1788, and spent five months there collecting 1000 breadfruit plants to be placed in tubs onboard ship. Whether the mutiny was a result of Captain William Bligh giving the last remaining fresh water to his precious cargo of breadfruit in preference to the crew or because the crew had been so enchanted with Tahitian life is not known for sure, but either seemed to be enough reason for the crew to mutiny. Captain Bligh and eighteen loyal crew were set adrift, but they managed to reach the East Indies more than 3,000 miles away. Bligh later returned to Tahiti, this time to gather over 2,000 plants, which he transported to Jamaica in 1793. It was these efforts that awarded him the nickname "Breadfruit Bligh". After all this, the fruits were not a big success with the slaves, but the fruit itself began to flourish. Huge quantities of the breadfruit must be eaten along with coconut, milk, fish, and greens in order to give a balanced diet because the breadfruit contains so much water and starch (28%). The banana or taro was more appreciated as a staple and was used instead of the breadfruit following that mutinous voyage. Breadfruit is normally eaten cooked as a vegetable. It can be eaten raw when it is very ripe or peeled and boiled, roasted, or fried like potatoes or baked whole in an oven. It is more often pounded into flour.
