Jamaican Ackee - A Caribbean Culinary Chimera

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Ackee (pronounced "ack-key") is the national fruit and dish of Jamaica



Like reggae, Bob Marley, Red Stripe beer and Blue Mountain coffee, ackee is quintessentially and unmistakably Jamaican.
Every Jamaican at home and abroad longs for a Sunday breakfast of ackee and saltfish (ackee sauteed with salted codfish or baccalao,onions and tomatoes), served with fried plantains, johnny cakes (fried flour dumplings), boiled green bananas or yellow yam, and a slice or two of Jamaican hard-dough bread. Oh......yes!

Preferrably freshly picked ackee, of course, which is more flavorful and has a smoother more buttery taste; but canned ackee or frozen fresh ackee can be almost as good.

The ackee has an interesting history, diverse non-culinary uses, and the distinction of being a gastronomic delight with chimeric features: mouth-watering breakfast staple, and.....lethal poison, if prepared improperly. Ackees have high nutritional value and the exportation of ackee canned in brine is an important revenue earner for Jamaica and Haiti. Jamaica is the only Caribbean island in which the ackee is very popular, it is found in the other islands of the Caribbean, but is not consumed.

Let's learn all about the ackee!

Some ackee aliases

- Akee, achee
- Ackee apple
- Vegetable brain
- Akye-fufu(Ghana)
- Ankye(West Africa)
- Ishin(West Africa)
- Kaka(Ivory Coast)
- Finzan(Ivory Coast)
- Castanha(Brazil)
- Arbre fricasse(Haiti)
- Huevo vegetal(Panama)
- Arbol de seso(Cuba)
- Aki(Costa Rica)
- Merey del diablo(Venezuela)

'Blighia sapida' is the botanical name of the ackee

Close up picture of ripe ackee fruits

Ripe ackee fruits,Jamaican ackee, ackee and saltfish



THESE ARE ACKEES: THE BRIGHT RED PODS ENCLOSE 2 OR 3 CREAMY YELLOW ARILS OR PEGS TOPPED BY SHINY BLACK SEEDS, ONLY THE ARILS ARE EDIBLE

Nutritional content of the Ackee - 100 gm of canned ackee contains:

Water - 76.7 gm
Lipids - 15.2 gm (50-58% polyunsaturated fats). >55% of the ackees fat content is the essential fatty acid linoleic acid). No saturated fats and no cholesterol
Protein - 2.9 gm
Carbohydrates - 0.8 gm
Fiber - 2.7 gm
Potassium - 270 mg
Sodium - 240 mg
Calcium - 35 mg
Trace amounts of Zinc, Iron, B Vitamins and Vitamin C

“Jamaican riddle: My father's chicken lays eggs which hatch chicks with red bodies and black heads”

The History of the Ackee

The ackee is indigenous to West Africa, not Jamaica!

Guess what? The ackee is of West African origin, and was brought to Jamaica in the 1700s aboard slave ships. Captain William Bligh (he of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) introduced the ackee to the scientific community in 1793 when he brought ackee plants from Jamaica to Kew Gardens in Britain. Slaves in Jamaica latched onto the ackee (it must have reminded them of home, or maybe it was all they had to eat!), and combined ackee with the good protein of salted codfish from the codfisheries of the North Atlantic, which was cheap and could withstand tropical temperatures without refrigeration.


Ackee therefore became a major food crop in the lowlands of Jamaica, and is deeply engrained in the culture and cooking of Jamaica. In its homeland of West Africa, ackee is now more valued for its role as an ornamental and shade tree, with ripe, rotting ackee pods being a common sight along the roadsides of Accra in Ghana.

Export of canned ackee from Jamaica to North America, Britain and other Caribbean islands began in the 1950's. Ackee exports from Jamaica grossed JA$400 million in 2005 and are an important revenue earner for this third world country.

Ackee pics on Flickr

preparing the ackee by sun dazed
curated content from Flickr

How to cook ackee and saltfish on YouTube

Ackee and Saltfish Video Recipe
by JamaicaTandC | video info

90 ratings | 130,691 views
curated content from YouTube
Important!

Never eat unripe ackees, clean ripe ackee arils of their inner red membranes, and discard the water in which ackee is boiled

In the late 1800s, Jamaican Vomiting Sickness or Toxic Hypoglcemic Syndrome due to ackee poisoning was described. The illness occurs 6 to 48 hours after ingesting immature ackee fruit. Unripe ackees and the inner red membranes of the ripe arils contain the amino acid Hypoglycin A which produces low blood sugar by disrupting liver metabolism. Vomiting, seizures, coma and death result. Ackee pods must be allowed to ripen and open naturally on the tree to expose the ackee arils
Important!

Properly harvested and prepared Ackee is "No problem, mon!"

Ackees have been used in a wide variety of vegetarian dishes and other dishes. My second favorite ackee dish is Ackee quiche.... Yum!

Jamaican cookbooks on Amazon.com

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Ackee-Delite flip flop sandal by JAMFLIPS - Available online at www.jamflips.com 

Buy an ackee plant on eBay!

Grows easily in South Florida - you need a big backyard, though!

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The Deadly Ackee - A novel set in Jamaica

Five Star First Edition Mystery - The Deadly Ackee and Other Stories of Crime and Catastrophe

Amazon Price: $14.90 (as of 02/13/2012)Buy Now

Murder mystery novel featuring the ackee plus 4 other good short stories

Release Date: 12/31/1969

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

What's your favorite ackee dish?

Submit your ackee recipes and we'll feature them!

Ackee quiche

Comfort food!1 point

Ackee pizza

Great vegetarian fare1 point

Ackee and saltfish - the classic

1 point

Ackee and tofu

Just substitute baked or fried tofu for saltfish0 points

Curried ackee

With mixed veges...0 points

Ackee patty

A version of the classic Jamaican beef patty (turn more...0 points

Jamaican phrases, proverbs or songs which mention the ackee

Can you think of some?

Song- "Carry mi ackee go a Linstead market"

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Saying - "Inna mi ackee"

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Phrase- Ackee eyes

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Saying- One ackee peg betta than none

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Some non-culinary uses of the Ackee

Did you know the ackee was this versatile?



IF YOU ARE STILL WARY OF EATING ACKEE, CONSIDER ONE OF THESE NON-CULINARY USES! :)


MEDICINAL USES

- Anti-helminthic - In Brazil, an aqueous extract of ackee seeds, follwed by a purgative, is used to treat parasitic infestations of the bowel.

- Febrile, diarrhoeal illnesses - In Cuba, ripe ackee arils are blended with sugar and cinnamon for dysentery. In Colombia, the leaves and bark are used in a tea for stomach ailments.

- Topical analgesic- In Cote D'Ivoire, ackee bark is mixed with other spices and applied to aching joints or wounds. Young, crushed ackee leaves can also be applied to the forehead for headache, or used as a poultice for ulcerating wounds.

- Conjunctivitis - In West Africa, an extract of ackee leaves is used to make eye drops.

- Aphrodisiac stimulant - Also in West Africa, the pulverized bark of the ackee tree is mixed with hot peppers and rubbed on the body as a stimulant

HOUSEHOLD AND BEAUTY PRODUCTS

- Cologne- In Cuba, an extract of ackee blossoms is used to make cologne

- Soap - In West Africa, green ackee pods are used for clothes washing as they produce a rich lather. The ashes from burned green ackee fruits may also be used for laundry.

- Wood- Ackee trees have strong, termite-resistant wood which is used for building and construction, or to make boxes, casks, oars and paddles in West Africa

More good info on the ackee

We've 'trolled the web to bring you the best reports and references on the ackee
7 deadly regional delicacies
This blog lists 7 deadly delicacies, including the Jamaican ackee.
CDC article on Jamaican vomiting sickness
A report in the Morbidity and Mortality Report from the CDC in 1992. Has some good references to other scientific publications on ackee poisoning. Haiti and Burkina Faso in West Africa have had outbreaks of ackee poisoning like Jamaica.
PubMed article
Abstract on ackee poisoning outbreak in Haiti in 2000. Good links to a number of other scientific articles on the topic.

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