Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) – food from the Bounty

It is said that Lieutenant William Bligh of HMS Bounty discovered breadfruit trees in Malaysia and Polynesia towards the end of the 18^th century. He felt that it might be a good source of cheap food for the slaves, collected samples and introduced them in other tropical areas.

For thousands of years the Polynesians were using preserved breadfruit as food during their long sailings. They used planks of the tree for boatbuilding and the latex from the tree for caulking boats.

Breadfruit is a staple food in many tropical areas. The tree can grow up to 20m height. It is a prolific producer yielding about 200 fruits per season. The fruit can be boiled, baked, curried, sautéed or made into paste.

But I like them best as thinly cut and fried chips.

The first two photos below are from Olavipe (Copyright reserved). The other two are public domain pictures from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the images to enlarge.

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