Breadfruit: the Versatile Tropical Fruit Involved in a Famous Mutiny

Love trying new tropical fruits? Breadfruit is a delicious fruit used in many Caribbean recipes. It may not be the most common fruit to find if you don’t live in the Caribbean region, but you many be able to find it in specialty stores.

However, even if you can’t buy this delicacy in a store near you, that’s just one more excuse to head to the Caribbean for your next vacation! This fruit is served in many Caribbean restaurants, as a side dish, in salad, and even in a dessert called breadfruit pudding.

What does breadfruit taste like?

While breadfruit is technically a fruit, it actually tastes more like a vegetable. You could compare its flavor to that of a potato. However, its texture when cooked is more like that of fresh bread. It grows on trees and is round and green or greenish- yellow in color. A normal one grows to be about the size of a grapefruit. It is related to jackfruit.

A piece of breadfruit pudding. (Photo Credit: JamaicanBikkle.com)

There is so much variety in Caribbean dishes, thanks to the rich cultural history of the region. Many cooking techniques and ingredients come from anywhere from Africa to Asia.

Breadfruit is one such ingredient. Although it’s a common ingredient in Caribbean cooking today, this tasty fruit doesn’t actually originate in the Caribbean. It’s actually native to the South Pacific.

How breadfruit reached the Caribbean

The story of how breadfruit came to the Caribbean is quite interesting, but it’s one that most people have probably never heard. An English captain named William Bligh was on a mission to bring the fruit from Tahiti to the West Indies in 1789, hoping to plant some breadfruit trees in the Caribbean islands. He took a ship called the Bounty, and set sail for the Caribbean. However, a mutiny broke out on board shortly after they departed. That mutiny is now famously known as the Mutiny on the Bounty.

Breadfruit cut in half. — Breadfruit, cut in half. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

During the mutiny, the mutineers tossed Bligh and 18 others into a rowboat called a launch. They then steered the boat toward the island of Pitcairn, where many of them hid for years without getting caught. Meanwhile, Bligh and his men rowed more than 3,500 nautical miles to get to safety. Later, he made another voyage to the Caribbean with breadfruit trees. This time, it was successful. They planted the trees in Jamaica, and so this tropical fruit’s history in the Caribbean began.

Breadfruit recipes

Want to try your hand at Caribbean cooking? Here are some recipes to get you started:

Eat it fried — as a tasty side dish or snack!
Pudding- a delicious dessert
Salad- like potato salad, but distinctly Caribbean!
How to cut and bake breadfruit
Breadfruit chips and curry

If you can’t find this tasty fruit at any of your local stores, don’t worry! Most restaurants in the Caribbean feature it on the menu. Why not read The Top 10 Restaurants in the Caribbean and visit the one that suits you best?

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