Ackee and Cod Fish

Yeah baby (rather, yeah man)!  THIS is the stuff!  My all time favorite Jamaican dish. When my mom tells me that she is makin' this stuff I could almost smell it over the phone.  Either way, I often start drooling.

You see the picture above?  Just looking at it makes me salivate.  That yellow stuff that looks like scrambled eggs is actually ackee.  It is a beautiful, wonderfully delicious fruit when you add peppers, onions, garlic, salt and pepper and cod fish all cooked in coconut oil.  Oooh!  MAN I've gotta make another trip to Jamaica!

Ackee is downright difficult to find in the US unless it is from a can.  I would never advise eating the canned ackee; for it's not the same.  Besides the obvious reasons not to eat canned food (like bpa poisoning and such), ackee sometimes goes through unnatural processing before canning; for example, sometimes the ripening process is forced which actually makes the ackee VERY unhealthy.  When ackee ripens naturally, the fruit bursts open and the big black seeds inside are fully exposed; then and only then is it ripe and ready to be picked and cooked (see image below).

Again fining ackee in the US unless it is canned is near impossible, but there is always hope.  Every once in a while there are small grocery stores that sell unusual fruits and vegetables in a town that is rich in the culture that will buy them.  If you live in a more tropical area, you could probably grow it yourself even!  Where there is a will there is a way.  If you're making a trip to Jamaica, however, it is highly advisable that you try this dish!  It is way too yum!