Breadfruit

[bONES]

I LOVE it and haven't eaten one in about 16 years

Anyone know where I can find them in Toronto?

Living in such a multi-cultural city they must be available somewhere!

[bouche]

never heard nor seen of breadfruit. would you find this in chinatown or another market?

[bONES]

never heard nor seen of breadfruit. would you find this in chinatown or another market?

dude!

I bet they eat breadfruit in Belize.

I spent 5 months in Jamaica in `91 and cooked most of my own food on an open campfire.

There are different ways you can prepare it, but my favourite way was to toss it in the hot coals as is and let it cook until it was black.

Scrape the black shit off when it is done, cut it open and top with butter, salt & pepper.

It tastes like baked potato only way better!

I think I may have success if I check out some West Indian shops/markets, but Asian markets may sell it as well.

You should try it if you can find it in O-town

It's delicious!

The Breadfruit Cookbook

The breadfruit, or ulu is this cook’s delight. In its green, immature state, it works in all my recipes that call for artichoke heart. When still green but mature, it is my potato and sometimes rice substitute. When ripe, I use it in place of sweet potato, yam, pumpkin, chestnut and banana. But the ripe, roasted ulu filled with butter and brown sugar will always be my sentimental favorite because this is the way my grandmother introduced ulu to me. In her way, whenever there was something new to be had, she would say to me; “you wait ‘til pau cook, ono.†It was always true. Whatever she cooked, was wonderfully good.

When I moved into my own house on family land, I asked my father to help me plant a breadfruit tree in my yard. It was a third generation plant by way of my uncle. My father asked me what I was going to do with all the breadfruit. I planned to eat some and give some away. The first year the breadfruit fruited, I was able to keep up with giving away the fruits on my small tree by taking it to friends, to the food bank and to any one else who was interested. By the second year, the tree had more than doubled in size and I had more than I needed or could give away. So began the annual Ulu dinners.

On the eve of the 5th Annual Ulu Dinner, while the ulu tree is bearing flowers and ulu tree is about to fruit once more, the collection of what has become known as the ulu recipes, is now a book. Our dinners have become the Ulu Festival with the few claiming attendance to all dinners as “charter membersâ€. The ulu pastelles have became the annual favorite served with a traditional meat filling and a vegetarian filling. Ulu latkes come in a close second but ulu "artichoke" is always the now comer's surprise.

This book embodies the spirit of joining together and the years of sharing our stories of the best, ulu we ever had including Roasted Ulu, the skin burnt but inside sweet and ulu packed tight in the pot cooked with coconut milk until sticky, ulu custard pie and ulu ice cream. Comfort food at its finest.

Also included are substitutions for dairy and soy milk and lower sugar alternatives. Vegetarian and Vegan recipes are also can be found.

Breadfruit continues to be used as a primary food source in the Pacific Islands of Micronesia and Polynesia (Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Mauritius, Cook Islands, Mariana Islands, Marquesas, Society Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Yap). Breadfruit is also found in Indonesia, Philippines, the Seychelles, the Caribbean and in Africa. It was used In Hawaii more for its plant products including wood for buildings and canoes, fiber for cloth and latex as an adhesive for catching birds and caulking canoes.

here's some recipes I found by doing a google search

Baked Breadfruit

time to make 1¼ hours 15 min prep

1 mature ripe breadfruit

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup butter

1. Melt your butter, taking care not to brown or burn it, mix in nutmeg and cinnamon.

2. Place aside or better yet, place in a small bowl and place in the refrigerator to set up again.

3. Once you have your ripe breadfruit pull on the stem, it should give way with a tug and when the step comes off, the innards should come with it as well.

4. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the brown sugar into the hollow breadfruit.

5. Take your hardened butter mixture and with a knife or spatula, place into the breadfruit followed by the rest of the brown sugar.

6. Cover the hole in the top of the breadfruit (I tried using about an inch of a plantain to stuff the hole and it worked pretty well).

7. Place in a baking pan with 2 cups of water and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hours.

8. Allow breadfruit to cool for 15 minutes.

9. Cut into quarters and dig inches.

10. Depending on the consistency of your breadfruit, it might not be a bad idea to prep up an extra 1/2 cup of butter to use once the breadfruit is quartered.

Baked Ulu (breadfruit) with butter and brown sugar

My grandmother loved breadfruit. For years, I thought Ulu had to be cooked in the ashes of a fire…wrapped in foil or ti leaf, so that the edges burned just a little and the insides were chewy and brown. I remember watching her pull out the core and trim out the edge just a bit then cut a block of butter in half and push it into the center of the breadfruit. She then followed it with a heaping spoonful of brown sugar careful to cover the top with foil. She would take the breadfruit out side and bury it in the ashes. Nothing smelled as good as the ulu as it cooked. When the ulu was done, she cut it into quarters, and we ate it scraping the wonderful sweet, sticky brown bits near the skin!

1 ripe ulu (skin will be yellow and brown, flesh soft)

¼ cup or ½ block butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Wash a ripe breadfruit and remove core by pulling stem. Trim top edge of ulu if needed. Fill cavity with butter and brown sugar. Cover ulu with foil and place in a baking pan with 1 cup water (to prevent scorching). Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

To serve, unwrap breadfruit and cut in half lengthwise. Bring to the table on a shallow bowl with a large spoon. Scoop ulu with a large spoon to serve, making sure each piece is topped with some of the sugar and butter in the center.

* For a richer variation, fill with one block of butter stuff cavity with brown sugar.

[bouche]

then I may have had it. we had all kinds of fruit in belize, however it was all pre cut or diced.

[bONES]

then I may have had it. we had all kinds of fruit in belize, however it was all pre cut or diced.

don't let the name (fruit) fool ya

it's more of a vegetable than a fruit

you don't eat them raw