Roasted Breadfruit and Fried Jackfish

The national dish of St Vincent and the Grenadines: breadfruit roasted black over an open fire and served with crisp fried jackfish and a quick onion, pepper, and lime sauce

Origin: Kingstown & St Vincent

From the journey of Breadfruit.

St Vincent and the Grenadines names roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish as its national dish. The breadfruit is roasted whole over coals or in an open fire until the skin is completely black, then peeled, sliced, and served hot; the jackfish, small jacks that are bony and full of flavour, is seasoned with lime, garlic, and herbs, dredged, and fried crisp. Roasted breadfruit is sold from roadside fires, and the pair is the island's own answer to fish and chips. It is also the island where the Caribbean's breadfruit story is centred. On 23 January 1793 HMS Providence, under William Bligh, anchored at Kingstown with the Tahitian saplings that had cost one voyage and a mutiny to bring, and enslaved men carried several hundred of them from the harbour up to the botanic garden, where the curator Alexander Anderson propagated them for the British islands. Five Tahitian cultivars came, and they still grow on St Vincent; a sucker in the garden is thought to descend directly from one of Bligh's plants. The record is less tidy than the plaque. Elizabeth DeLoughrey notes that Anderson had already obtained breadfruit from French sources before Providence arrived, and that he reported that the enslaved population, whom the whole enterprise was meant to feed, preferred the plantain.

Ingredients

Breadfruit

1 mature breadfruit, firm and starchy (about 1.2 kg)

Jackfish

8 small jackfish (bigeye scad), or other small whole fish, about 1 kg, cleaned and scaled
2 limes
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
0.5 hot pepper, finely chopped
100 g plain flour, for dredging
500 ml vegetable oil, for frying

Sauce

2 tbsp butter
1 onion, sliced
1 sweet pepper, sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 tbsp water

Method

Roast the breadfruit whole over hot coals, or directly in an open fire, turning it every 10 to 15 minutes, for about 1 hour, until the skin is black all over and a skewer slides easily into the stem end.
Meanwhile rub the fish inside and out with the juice of one lime, rinse, and pat dry. Cut two slashes in each side and rub with the garlic, spring onion, thyme, salt, black pepper, and hot pepper. Leave for 30 minutes.
Dredge the fish in flour and fry in hot oil for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden. Drain.
For the sauce, soften the onion and sweet pepper in the butter, add the garlic, the water, and the juice of the second lime, and bubble for a minute.
Peel the breadfruit, cut out the core, and slice it into wedges.
Serve the breadfruit hot with the fish, spooning the sauce over both.

Notes

Any small, firm, oily fish can stand in for jackfish; small mackerel or sardines come closest. Leftover roasted breadfruit is excellent sliced and fried the next day.

The Gastrographer

Name: Roasted Breadfruit and Fried Jackfish
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Kingstown & St Vincent
Ingredients: 1 mature breadfruit, firm and starchy (about 1.2 kg); 8 small jackfish (bigeye scad), or other small whole fish, about 1 kg, cleaned and scaled; 2 limes; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 spring onions, finely chopped; 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves; 1 tsp salt; 0.5 tsp ground black pepper; 0.5 hot pepper, finely chopped; 100 g plain flour, for dredging; 500 ml vegetable oil, for frying; 2 tbsp butter; 1 onion, sliced; 1 sweet pepper, sliced; 1 garlic clove, chopped; 4 tbsp water

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control