Do you recall anyone starving to death in the Caribbean?
Perhaps somewhat malnourished, starving hungry
maybe but with breadfruit trees, pumpkin vines, lime trees and people so
willing to give you a helping hand its kind of hard to believe we could lose
anyone to starvation.
 |
| Limes |
 |
| Pumpkin Vine |
 |
| Breadfruit |
This particular week, Samaritans were lurking at every
corner. It was a wonder of amazing
gestures of kindness, by the end of the week I was dizzy with joy. Really though, think about it all the little
acts of thoughtfulness people did for you this week and pass it on.
My frenzied week began with my sister in law; we were
sitting around drinks in hand when Miss Sweetness announced that she had
something for me, big smile on her face and hope that I don’t take offense! Now I’m intrigued, especially as she took ages to get
the ‘thing’ out of the bag. No worries! I should know that she has my back. She happened upon a product that is working for her and she wanted me to look as lovely as she does. Bless her cotton picking heart.
 |
| My new wonder product! |
Back home, I popped across the road to deliver some mangoes to my
neighbour and she offered me a huge breadfruit the size of a very large
melon. Manners prevented me from
declining so I asked for a wedge instead. As I turned to leave, her husband was
coming through the door, he greeted me and at the same time reached into the
bag he was carrying and pulled out a some limes and two cucumbers and gave
them to me. Wow!
Now I don’t normally visit the telephone company
(doctors orders!), but since they are a law unto themselves I became compliant
and paid my bill on due date. I was ever
so surprised to see my cousin patiently awaiting her turn as one does in the
throes of a monopolized giant. (You’re
right not my favourite provider). I
complimented my girl on looking sharp, nice lipstick and so on, then quipped
her about a hot date. Well would you
believe that a couple of days later she surprised me with up a new lipstick and some
mangoes.
Next my
good buddy called to tell me that our mutual friend left some cabbage, okra,
and bean that she was able to reap from her kitchen garden, before the pesky
monkeys helped themselves to the results of her hard labour. As I went to collect my goodies, the very same
buddy, not to be outdone slipped me some DVD’s.
I’m not done
yet, an elderly couple living next door to my office sent over two huge boxes
of mangoes. Same day, as I sat in my
office there was a knock on the door, I opened it to find my gardener standing there with some mangoes and two moringa plants.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/health-benefits-of-moringa.html
 |
| Moringa Oleifa |
All these
mangoes were wonderfully delicious, I was only too happy to share them with others. I sliced and froze the set at the end (above) and took them to a beach picnic where even more people delighted in them.
Another
delight was soup made by a work colleague from Grenada. We have a little “all Nations” in the office
and work stops when presented with something from another country. Not sure of the complete ingredients in the soup, but
it did include pumpkin, spinach, ginger, dumplings of course, green plaintain, lentil
powder and it was a winner.
I happened
to be in the lunch room later as the evening shift came on. Whilst unpacking her lunch Ms. Jamaica passed
me a container and simply said, ‘you came to mind as I was putting out my
lunch." My workmates are amazing.
There’s
more, I went over to the Bank and the security guard asked me whether I would be at work the next day? Next day he turned up with ......... Breadfruit.
 |
| Roasted Breadfruit |
 |
| Roasted Breadfruit - halved |
As he handed over the breadfruit I joyful gave him a some Soursop that I picked from my tree that same morning.
Soursop is a versatile and amazing
tree, with all the parts of it having important uses in traditional
medicine. Juice made from the fruit, as well as the fruit itself, are effective
in exterminating all kinds of intestinal parasites and amoeba. I routinely gave
my beloved tea made from the leaves when he was ill.
Back to the breadfruit.....
Breadfruit has
a reputation of being bland but there are many ways to cook (baked, boiled,
roasted, friend, crushed) and use breadfruit that this lowly tropical staple
can be transformed into a gastronomical experience.
The breadfruit is abundant in the tropics
and really quite cheap. It has been
written that “the breadfruit is a nutritional giant capable of alleviating
hunger in the world’s poorest nations.”
Remember
Captain Bligh's ill fated mission on the HMS Bounty? He was to bring
breadfruit saplings from the South
Pacific to the Caribbean, because the breadfruit tree produced huge, nutritious
fruits as often as three times a year, and it was thought they might provide an
inexpensive food supply for African slaves working on Caribbean
plantations; there you have it!
For the
beach picnic I made a breadfruit and tuna salad, consisting of cooked and diced
breadfruit, sweetcorn, green pepper, and of course canned tuna. Normally I mix together with mayonnaise but
as we were
beaching it I used grapeseed oil for the mix.
A simple and quick recipe.
Quicker still is Pickled Breadfruit:
You will
need, breadfruit, lime, onion, salt and pepper
(I use Cajun pepper for the
additional seasonings).
Peel, core
and cut an under ripe breadfruit.
Boil
in salt water.
Squeeze
fresh limes for the pickle and chip the onions,
add salt and pepper to desired
taste.
Pour this
over the cut breadfruit pieces.
This can be
served hot or cold.
My mother
was a great one for sharing.
Like a lot
of the old folks in the country,
she would not allow you to leave her house
empty handed.
Whether it was cherries,
soursop, herbs, ground provisions,
avocados, homemade bread,
whatever little she had she believed in sharing.
She even took her doctor little parcels on
visits.
