Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish

Ingredients

Breadfruit

• 1whole mature breadfruit (about 2 kg), firm, green, with the skin just beginning to show brown sap beads
• 2 tbspcoconut oil, for rubbing

Jackfish

• 4whole jackfish (round scad or horse mackerel), 250 g each, gutted, gilled and scored twice a side
• 2 tspcoarse salt
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbspfresh thyme leaves
• 100 gplain flour seasoned with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper
• 300 mlcoconut or vegetable oil, for frying

To serve

• 60 gsalted butter or coconut oil
• 1avocado, sliced
• 2 tbsppepper sauce
• Lime wedges

Directions

1. Build a wood or charcoal fire and let it burn down to glowing coals with a light ash coat. This dish is defined by fire-roasting; a gas ring or oven gives a different, tamer result.
2. Cut out the stem of the breadfruit with the point of a knife so steam can escape, then set the whole fruit directly on the coals.
3. Roast 45–60 minutes, turning every 10 minutes with tongs, until the skin is charred black all over and a thin skewer pushes through to the core with no resistance. Sap will bubble and hiss out of the stem hole and the fruit will smell like baking bread.
4. Meanwhile rub the jackfish inside and out with the salt, lime juice, pepper, garlic and thyme and leave 20 minutes. Lime firms the flesh and cuts the oiliness of the fish.
5. Pat the fish thoroughly dry, dredge in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Wet fish will not crisp and will spit dangerously.
6. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan to 180°C (350°F), when a pinch of flour sizzles immediately, and fry the fish 5–6 minutes a side, turning only once, until the skin is deep gold and crisp and the flesh at the backbone is opaque.
7. Drain the fish on a rack. Scrape the burnt skin off the breadfruit with a knife, cut it into quarters, cut out the fibrous core, then slice into thick wedges.
8. Serve the hot breadfruit wedges with butter or coconut oil melting into them, the whole fried jackfish on top, avocado alongside, and lime and pepper sauce to hand. Eat with fingers.

Technique

• Breadfruit maturity decides everything. Too young and it stays hard and gluey; too ripe and it collapses into sweet mush. You want it full-sized, still green, with beads of white sap starting to weep at the skin.
• The stem must be cored out before roasting. A sealed breadfruit builds steam pressure and can split violently on the fire.
• Jackfish is small, oily and bony. It is eaten whole, off the bone, with the fingers; filleting it is not the Vincentian way and loses the crisp skin, which is the best part.
• This pairing is the official national dish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and appears on the coat of arms of the island’s food culture; the fish is often lightly salted overnight before frying.

Substitutions

• No open fire? Roast the whole breadfruit at 220°C (425°F) for 1 hour 15 minutes on the oven floor, turning twice, then blacken the skin under a hot grill for 8 minutes to fake the char. It is honestly not the same, but it is close.
• No jackfish? Any small oily fish works: whole mackerel, scad, sardines or small snapper, fried the same way.
• Breadfruit out of season can be replaced by 1.2 kg of green banana or cassava boiled and then charred, though the sweet, chestnut note is lost.

Variations

• Boiled breadfruit with the same fish, common for weekday dinners.
• Breadfruit roasted then sliced and fried in coconut oil, served as chips with the fish.
• A salted jackfish version, where the fish is dry-salted overnight, rinsed and fried, giving a much firmer, saltier plate.

History

Considered the national dish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, combining roasted breadfruit, introduced to the Caribbean from the Pacific by British colonial botanical expeditions in the late 1700s specifically to provide an inexpensive staple food for enslaved plantation populations, with fried jackfish, a fish species commonly caught in the waters surrounding the islands. Breadfruit’s introduction to the Caribbean is itself a well-documented piece of colonial history, closely tied to the voyage of the HMS Bounty, whose famous 1789 mutiny occurred during precisely this breadfruit-transporting mission. The pairing of roasted breadfruit with fried local fish reflects Saint Vincent’s combination of that introduced starchy staple with the islands’ abundant surrounding seafood.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish?

Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish is a main from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: national dish of fire-roasted breadfruit with fried jackfish. Considered the national dish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, combining roasted breadfruit, introduced to the Caribbean from the Pacific by British colonial botanical expeditions in the late 1700s specifically to provide an inexpensive staple food for enslaved plantation populations, with fried jackfish, a fish species commonly caught in the waters surrounding the islands. Breadfruit’s introduction to the Caribbean is itself a well-documented piece of colonial history, closely tied to the voyage of the HMS Bounty, whose famous 1789 mutiny occurred during precisely this breadfruit-transporting mission. The pairing of roasted breadfruit with fried local fish reflects Saint Vincent’s combination of that introduced starchy staple with the islands’ abundant surrounding seafood.

How long does Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish take to make?

Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish takes 25 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish?

Yes, within limits. No open fire? Roast the whole breadfruit at 220°C (425°F) for 1 hour 15 minutes on the oven floor, turning twice, then blacken the skin under a hot grill for 8 minutes to fake the char. It is honestly not the same, but it is close. No jackfish? Any small oily fish works: whole mackerel, scad, sardines or small snapper, fried the same way. Breadfruit out of season can be replaced by 1.2 kg of green banana or cassava boiled and then charred, though the sweet, chestnut note is lost.

What is the most important thing to get right in Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish?

Cut out the stem of the breadfruit with the point of a knife so steam can escape, then set the whole fruit directly on the coals.