Jackfruit

Who remembers this? Mae had a tree right at the foot of the property. If you went over to the steps and stood on the highest part of the concrete, you could reach these. Still, who wanted to grab the pokey exterior. We waited until someone else had the nerve to open it, what a surprise.

I saw someone just tear into it once, not even with a knife, just fingers.  I suspect the jackfruit must have been ripe.   The thick and brownish-yellow rind has small protrusions, not sharp but not comfortable either. Inside it are these succulent yellow bulbs embedded in a fibrous pocket. Inside the bulbs are seeds. Now, we’ve probably eaten just about every part of the jackfruit. Some relative made a curry out of the fibrous pockets and the inside of the rind. We definitely devoured the sweet fruit after the seeds had been removed. Mae would dry and then roast the seeds in an open fire. They had a semblance to brazil nuts maybe? Anyone remember? Very nice. I never liked the goey sap that covered my hands when I tried to separate the fruit from the fiber. Some people would oil their hands to get it out. Yum.

Wish that I could say that these pictures were exactly from Mae’s garden but anyone who remembers, will think it is, thanks to thefruitbook.com who has generously supplied me photos. If anyone remembers anything else about Mae’s house or the fruit trees, feel free to comment.