CARIBBEAN JAMAICA SALTFISH & ACKEE SALTFISH: The production of salt cod dates back at least 500 years. Salt cod formed a vital item of international commerce between the New World and the Old and formed one leg of the so-called triangular trade and because of this trade it spread around the Atlantic and became a traditional ingredient not only in European, Mediterranean, West African, Caribbean and Brazilian cuisine. The drying of food is the worlds oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage life of several years. Traditionally, salt cod was dried only by the wind and the sun, hanging on wooden scaffolding or lying on clean cliffs or rocks near the seaside. Drying preserves many nutrients, and the process of salting and drying codfish is said to make it tastier. Salting became economically feasible during the 17th century, when cheap salt from southern Europe became available to the maritime nations of northern Europe. The method is cheap and the process done by the fisherman or his family, the resulting product was easily transported to market, and salt cod became a staple item in the diet of the populations of many Catholic influenced Caribbean regions on meatless Fridays and during Lent, which initially had a lot of influence in the Caribbean regions. ACKEE: A fruit imported to Jamaica from West African is the late 1700 from West Africa. Since then it has become a major feature of various Caribbean cuisines, and is also cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas elsewhere around the world. The Ackee tree is an evergreen that grows about 10 meters tall, with a short trunk and a dense crown. The fruit is pear-shaped. When it ripens, it turns from green to a bright red to yellow-orange, and splits open to reveal three large, shiny black seeds, each partly surrounded by soft, creamy or spongy, white to yellow flesh. ‘Ackee & Saltfish’ - Jamaica’s National dish. Evidence of a culinary history as rich in diversity as the chronicle of the island’s people, it says a lot about Caribbean society that both the two main ingredients of the Jamaican national dish originated on continents far away. This very fact has remarkable historic associations. Jamaicans long standing traditions with the consumption of ‘saltfish’, started hundreds of years ago when West Indian sugar cane planters sought cheap protein rich food for the enslaved Africans they were importing for plantation labor. The lower grade codfish, sold to the plantations of West India from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in exchange for rum and molasses, quickly evolved into a main food ingredient. Nowadays, 80% of Jamaica’s saltfish is imported from Norway and although often called ‘codfish’ by the local population, the majority of locally sold fish is in fact pollock, saith or hake caught in the North Atlantic. Preserved by both salting and drying, its popularity is in great part due to its long shelf life and resilience to warmer climates. The status of saltfish has changed over the years from that of ‘poor man’s food’ to being considered an exclusive ingredient, and you can hardly find a more popular dish among natives from all layers of society. The island’s inhabitants have faithfully kept up the culinary use of saltfish and in typical style transformed it into the nation’s most recognizable delicacy by adding ingredients readily available to them. One exceptional ingredient spurred the creation of the island’s unique national dish; the ackee fruit. Ackee tastes and looks like scrambled eggs and its natural notes of sweetness contrasts well with the saltiness of the saltfish. This international mélange is sauteed with green onions (scallions), tomatoes, sweet peppers, the Jamaican spices allspice and Scotch Bonnet chili pepper to create what is considered one of Jamaica’s greatest delicacies. Indigenous to Africa’s Ivory and Gold Coasts, where it bears the name Akye Fufo, lshin or Ankye, the ackee has been serenaded by the likes of Harry Belafonte in ‘Jamaica Farewell’. Its introduction to Jamaica was first recorded in 1778, when some plants were purchased from the captain of a slave ship. Dr. Thomas Clarke, one of the earliest propagators of the tree, is said to have introduced the ackee tree to the eastern parishes around the same time. Perhaps because Jamaicans are among the only people who eat ackee, the fruit has over the years come to assume significant cultural importance. ACKEE RECIPE FOR APPROX. 4 PERSONS • 1/2 lb saltfish (dried, salted codfish) • 3 doz fresh ackees or 1 (drained) can of tinned ackees • 1 medium onion • 4 scallions (or spring onions) • 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper (or other hot pepper) • 1 sweet pepper • 2 cloves of garlic • 1 tomato • 3 tbsp of butter • 1/2 tsp black pepper • 1 sprig fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme • 6 strips of bacon (optional) Soak and boil saltfish, drain and tear into small pieces. Chop onions, scotch bonnet and sweet pepper, tomato, garlic and scallions. Cut bacon in small pieces. Boil ackee until soft. Fry onion, scallions, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, sweet pepper, tomato, saltfish and bacon in the butter. Add ackee and season with black pepper. Enjoy!
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 17:58:45 +0000
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