Ackee and saltfish

Ingredients

Saltfish

• 400 gsalted cod, thick loin pieces
• water for soaking and boiling

The pot

• 1 tin(540 g) ackee in brine, drained gently, or 24 fresh ackee arils from naturally opened pods
• 3 tbspcoconut oil
• 1large onion, sliced
• 3spring onions (escallion), sliced on the diagonal
• 1red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2medium tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 4 sprigsfresh thyme
• 1whole scotch bonnet pepper, left uncut
• 1 tspcoarsely ground black pepper
• 6pimento (allspice) berries, lightly crushed

To serve

• boiled green bananas, fried dumplings or roast breadfruit

Directions

1. Soak the salted cod in plenty of cold water for 12–24 hours, changing the water three or four times, then taste a shred: it should be pleasantly salty, not fierce.
2. Boil the fish in fresh water for 15–20 minutes, drain, cool, and flake it into bite-sized pieces, discarding skin and bones.
3. If using fresh ackee, use only pods that have split open on the tree: remove the pink membrane and the black seed entirely, then boil the yellow arils in salted water for 15–20 minutes until just tender and drain.
4. Heat the coconut oil in a heavy frying pan over medium heat and soften the onion, escallion and bell pepper for 5 minutes without colouring.
5. Add the thyme, crushed pimento berries, black pepper and the whole scotch bonnet. Keep the chilli intact and roll it around the pan: it perfumes the dish without setting it on fire.
6. Stir in the tomato and cook 3 minutes until it slumps, then fold through the flaked saltfish and fry 4–5 minutes so the edges catch.
7. Tip in the drained ackee and fold, do not stir, using a gentle lifting motion with a wooden spoon for 2–3 minutes until heated through. The arils must stay in whole buttery lobes and never break into scramble.
8. Fish out the scotch bonnet, check the seasoning, and serve hot with fried dumplings, boiled green banana or roast breadfruit.

Technique

• Unripe ackee contains hypoglycin A and is genuinely dangerous. Only ever eat arils from pods that have opened naturally on the tree, always discard the pink membrane and the seed, and never use the cooking water.
• This is a fold, not a stir-fry. Broken ackee makes a yellow mush and Jamaicans will tell you so.
• Boiling after soaking is the Jamaican habit for saltfish and it does two jobs: it finishes the desalting and it makes the flesh flake cleanly.

Substitutions

• Tinned ackee is what most Jamaican kitchens abroad use and is entirely acceptable; it is already cooked, so it needs only warming through.
• No salt cod: use 400 g of fresh pollock or hake, salted with 2 tbsp of coarse salt for 4 hours, rinsed and flaked. The texture is softer but honest.

Variations

• Cooked down with a little bacon fat or rendered pork in country kitchens for extra richness.
• Ackee and callaloo, the meatless everyday pot, or ackee with shrimp on the north coast.

History

Combines two ingredients with entirely separate origins: ackee, a fruit native to West Africa, is generally believed to have been brought to Jamaica on slave ships in the late 1700s, possibly by Captain William Bligh, better known for the mutiny on the Bounty, while saltfish, dried and heavily salted cod, was imported from the North Atlantic, particularly Canada’s Grand Banks, as a cheap, non-perishable protein source specifically to feed enslaved populations across the Caribbean under British colonial rule. Ackee is toxic if eaten before it is fully ripe and splits open naturally on the tree, a danger enslaved cooks had to learn to recognize and manage, and the pairing of the fruit with reconstituted saltfish became established enough in Jamaican households that it was declared the island’s national dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ackee and saltfish?

Ackee and saltfish is a breakfast from Jamaica: national dish of buttery ackee fruit sautéed with salt cod. Combines two ingredients with entirely separate origins: ackee, a fruit native to West Africa, is generally believed to have been brought to Jamaica on slave ships in the late 1700s, possibly by Captain William Bligh, better known for the mutiny on the Bounty, while saltfish, dried and heavily salted cod, was imported from the North Atlantic, particularly Canada’s Grand Banks, as a cheap, non-perishable protein source specifically to feed enslaved populations across the Caribbean under British colonial rule. Ackee is toxic if eaten before it is fully ripe and splits open naturally on the tree, a danger enslaved cooks had to learn to recognize and manage, and the pairing of the fruit with reconstituted saltfish became established enough in Jamaican households that it was declared the island’s national dish.

How long does Ackee and saltfish take to make?

Ackee and saltfish takes 25 min of preparation and 1 hr, plus overnight soaking of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Ackee and saltfish?

Yes, within limits. Tinned ackee is what most Jamaican kitchens abroad use and is entirely acceptable; it is already cooked, so it needs only warming through. No salt cod: use 400 g of fresh pollock or hake, salted with 2 tbsp of coarse salt for 4 hours, rinsed and flaked. The texture is softer but honest.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ackee and saltfish?

Add the thyme, crushed pimento berries, black pepper and the whole scotch bonnet. Keep the chilli intact and roll it around the pan: it perfumes the dish without setting it on fire.