Caribbean Fruits & Vegetables
How to Use Them
Christophene: A gourd imported
from Mexico, christophene is eaten raw or cooked, typically to accompany
a main dish. It is very watery.
Cocoa: Responsible for the dread addiction among those known as "chocoholics."
Originally grown by Indians in South and Central America,
the 10-inch pods turn from green to reddish brown when ripe. The pods have
to be broken open and the cocoa beans extracted and dried.
When not sprinkled with sugar, the beans taste surprisingly bitter.
Coconut
Palm: Used to supply drinking water (chop
off the top of a green coconut nut with a machete and enjoy the 'milk,' actually
a sweet water). Dried coconut is of course used in cooking
and in making soap. Coconut oil is sometimes called tropical
oil or palm oil on food packages.
Custard
or Sugar Apple: The deliciously sweet fruit is
a lumpy reddish brown, almost the shape of a blunt-ended pinecone.
Dasheen: The underground roots
are loaded with starch, like potatoes. They must be cooked/boiled
to remove a bitter taste.
Ginger: From Southeast Asia, the root is ground and used in flavoring, particularly cakes, syrup and drinks. A teaspoon
of ginger (mix it with some liquid) helps prevent/reduce motion sickness and it won't make you sleepy like some commercial seasick remedies.
Grapefruit: A popular juice or eaten in half at
breakfast, today's grapefruit appears to be a hybrid between
the orange and something called a shaddock,
a fruit brought into the Caribbean from the South Pacific by a sailing captain
named Shaddock. No one liked the shaddocks because they were too bitter.
However, they grew so well they spread throughout the islands.
Somehow, probably through creating a hybrid, the fruit became a lot
sweeter. Grapefruits with lumpy skins tend to be
quite sour and may be part of the original shaddock strain.
Guava: Apparently brought to the Caribbean by the Arawaks, the tree grows to more than 20 feet. The pear-shaped fruit is only
about 2 inches long. Eaten raw or to make jellies, a tea from the tree bark is said to help bouts of diarrhea.
Jackfruit: Related to the breadfruit and somewhat
resembling it, except the jackfruit grows close to the tree on short stalks.
A member of the fig family, jackfruit also grows big--as
much as 40 pounds. Its many seeds can be eaten raw
or roasted like chestnuts.
Mammee Apple: The rough, oval brown fruit grows
on an evergreen that's believed native to the region. The small fruit are eaten raw (peeled first), stewed or made into jams
and preserves.
Mango: One of the most common and favorite fruits
throughout the Caribbean . The kidney-shaped fruit (pink
or yellow when ripe) grows on tall trees that reach roof-top high. Usually
eaten raw, it's also made into mango pie, mango
ice cream and mango mousse.
Naseberry or Sapodilla: This oval fruit with a
reddish-brown skin has a sweet-tasting pulp used for custards
and ice cream. The tree sap produces chicle gum, used in
making chewing gum.
Nutmeg: The principal export of Grenada, the tree
grows to a massive 40 feet. The flowers produce a fruit looking
much like a peach with a nut inside. The skin of
the nut provides mace; the nut itself is the nutmeg.
Nutmeg is either ground into powder or crushed into oil. It is sometimes used
in small amounts as a medicine, said to help prevent strokes.
However, taken in large quantities, too much nutmeg is said to be poisonous.
To: Caribbean Fruits & Vegetables Part 3 Okra to Yams
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