Ackee: The Fruit That Saved My Family

In 2004, I was finally old enough to understand the true dangers of a natural disaster. All my life I had heard about Jamaica’s unfortunate history with hurricanes, but until Hurricane Ivan, I did not realize how serious it could be. The media inundated us with replays of 1988’s Hurricane Gilbert, and painted pictures of an economically and structurally devastated Jamaica. The death doll was record-breaking, the rate of Jamaicans displaced from roofless homes were astronomical, and the stories of no electricity for months after the hurricane scared the living shit out of me.

Despite my trepidations, I was excited and eager for the advent of Hurricane Ivan. What would it sound like? What if the mammoth tree in the yard falls onto the house?

Plaguing my mind, these questions incited not only fear, but also a thrill that was slightly disconcerting.

The night before Hurricane Ivan arrived, I sat by the window in the living room, peering out at the countless trees in our rural backyard that were dancing, but not with their usual grace. I watched as the rain beat down on the window through which I observed the preliminary damages of Ivan, feeling guilty for being so enthusiastic.

I woke up the next morning with a stabbing realization that I slept through the whole event. “Did it come yet?’ I asked, saddened by the answer that I did not need.

Hurricane Ivan flattened my little island in the sun, leaving a lot of its citizens homeless, hungry and despondent. My family and I were spared of its ravages and destruction. Thankfully, we still had our home, and we were safe. However, we had a shortage of food.

When Hurricane Ivan struck Jamaica, my mother was experiencing some formidable circumstances that left us financially stricken. The natural disaster only accentuated her troubles, making it difficult to feed her family of five.

We scrimped on what we had for maybe two weeks post Hurricane Ivan. However, as you can imagine, with four mouths to feed, food runs out fast. And that it did. Eventually, we had to get creative and think outside the box. That summer, I remember eating foods that I never thought I would eat -- food that was unsafe.

Some of the meat that we refrigerated with ice had expired, and it was accompanied by a slightly rotten scent to prove it. As we like to say in Jamaica --"di meat touch" -- meaning that “the meat is spoiled.” We didn’t have to eat the meat, but when strapped for cash, a single-mother is not inclined to waste slightly spoiled meat. Unfortunately, we all suffered the painful repercussions of eating touch meat through multiple visits to the bathroom.

When our food ran out and buying meat became unsustainable, we relied on the Ackee tree that stood in our front yard. A great treasure of living on a tropical island is that most yards have a fruit tree, and we were blessed to have an Ackee tree in ours. Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica and is the main ingredient of our national dish. Even more important, that summer, Ackee was the fruit that saved my family.

For approximately two months, my family and I ate ackee dishes --traditional and unconventional. We ate ackee by itself, ackee with saltfish, ackee with chicken back (sold cheaply in Jamaica), ackee with corn beef, and so much more.

Imagine a little girl who did not fancy ackee, to begin with, having to eat it meal after meal. If you winced in agony and empathy of what I experienced as an 11-year-old girl, then bless your heart. It means a lot.

Despite my initial intolerance for Ackee and Saltfish, I ate every ounce of rice that was saturated with ackee. I licked the spoons, the forks and the plates with little regard for the ackee that was on them. As my mother loved to say when we were picky, "If you're hungry, you will eat it." And momma ain't never lied!

When things went back to what we now call normal, I was unable to eat ackee for a while. As you would expect, my family and I were cloyed by the fruit; but not for long. Guess what is my favorite meal now? Ackee and Saltfish is a delicacy to me, and I often find myself smiling at my childhood memories wherein I reject and refuse to eat the dish that saved my family during some difficult times.

P.S.

Ackee and Saltfish is an easy dish to make. Go ahead and try the recipe here. Canned ackee is found in stores across the US in stores like Publix or Shoprite.