Strange Tastes

Yesterday I had a taste of jackfruit, a very popular fruit from South India where the tree is grown for timber and fruit. Jackfruit are huge, a bundle of seeds/nuts wrapped in a kind of quiver. You strip the nut out of the quiver, remove a dry lining and eat what’s left. The nut, boiled, is edible and nutritious. People either love jackfruit or hate it. Linda practically ran from the odor while I gulped several pieces that tasted kind of like Juicy Fruit gum. I can attest that jackfruit is quite potent externally and internally. People’s response to jackfruit is not unlike reactions to durian and cilantro . Did you know that many people hate cilantro? A naturopathic doc told me the other night that one of eight people has a genetic market that causes cilantro to be repulsive to them. When it comes to durian, another tropical favorite, many can’t stand the odor let alone the taste and texture.
“In South India, the jackfruit is a popular food ranking next to the mango and banana in total annual production. There are more than 100,000 trees in backyards and grown for shade in betelnut, coffee, pepper and cardamom plantations. The total area planted to jackfruit in all India is calculated at 14,826 acres (26,000 ha). Government horticulturists promote the planting of jackfruit trees along highways, waterways and railroads to add to the country's food supply.” I guess I’ll stick to the avocados that grow outside our window because when I went to get some jackfruit from my stash it had disappeared.