I definitely love bread and I certainly love fruit. But when I read the description of the Caribbean favorite, the breadfruit: “its name is derived from the texture of the cooked fruit, which has a potato like flavor, similar to freshly baked bread (Wikipedia)” and a friend described them as “spongy”, I don’t know…I felt a little bit…icky.
Breadfruit for sale – 2 for $5bzd in Central Park, San Pedro
As the “fruit season” in Belize winds down…we will soon bid farewell to abundant mangos…
craboo…
tambran and cherimoya and rarer ones like the custard apples and sour sop (check below for posts on many of these)…breadfruit seem to be available in many spots.
Is this the food that all of those paleo and Atkins carb haters have been dreaming of? Is this going to replace all white rice, potatoes and bakery bread with fruit? Again, am I on my way to fame and fortune? I’ll never know. For once, I really can’t bring myself to try one of these things.
Here is the guy in the park, who insisted that he could sell ice to eskimos, try to sell me a breadfruit. It was lots of flirty fluttering eyelashes. That’s why I caught him with his eyes closed.
Apparently they are delicious sliced and fried…it can be boiled or grilled. Please let me know if you have tried it.
But since I have not, I set out to at least find a breadfruit tree. And found that asking San Pedranos that have lived here always knew exactly where the town trees were. I asked 5 people and got the same answer from all. Did you check by Billy Leslie’s house? Have you seen the one in the middle of town behind Celi’s Deli…we always used to pick breadfruit from that one. Well…duh.
These trees are GORGEOUS and huge…apparently a full grown tree (up to 80 feet high) produces hundreds of these cannonball sized fruit. (Not to be confused with the cannonball fruit I found in Guanaja, Hondruas.) Have I also solved the issue of world hunger? I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.
Here are the leaves on Billy’s tree. Huge green and glossy.
And the huge tree in the center of town. How did I miss this?
All I know that my personal garden of Eden has one of these for looks and a giant mango tree for eating. Breadfruit? I just can’t do it.
I eat it on Caulker. It is fine; if you like other starches such as cassava, potato and plantain, you’ll like breadfruit.
One day…
I haven’t tried it either, Rebecca, and have the same reaction as you. However, I guess if you think of it as a vegetable rather than a fruit, it might go down a little easier. I was once terrified of avocados and mangoes too (amazing to me now!)
Mangos! Holy moly. Though I shouldn’t say that…I was probably an adult before I tasted one…
My grandparents lived in southern Florida from the time I was 12 years old on, and they had mango trees. I wouldn’t even TRY them! I really missed out!!! By the time I discovered how heavenly they were, I was well into my 20s, so I missed out on many years of deliciousness!
I haven’t tried it yet either – love soursop though, and it looks kinda weird. Question for you on another topic, hope that is OK: Everything I read seems to suggest that American cash is accepted freely, rate of $1US=$2Belize….what about Canadian money? Is it circulated at all?
Not at all. I think a bank or two will exchange it but I’m pretty sure the exchange rate is not good. Using your bank card will always get you BZ cash. There is a ScotiaBank here which seems to waive the bank fees (up to $5USD) for a few foreign banks.
Hey, i though you were a both feet kinda girl?…..you won’t even try it? anything can be quickly washed down with some cooooold beer close by.
It hasn’t been offered to me fully cooked. I’m sure I would try it then. But the idea of buying, hauling home and cooking? I’ll stay away for now.