Jamaican recipe
How to make Ackee and saltfish
The whole island
Jamaica's national dish: soft yellow ackee fruit cooked with flakes of salted cod, onion, tomato, thyme and Scotch bonnet pepper. The ackee looks and tastes a little like scrambled eggs. It is eaten above all at breakfast, with fried dumplings, boiled green bananas, breadfruit or hard dough bread.
Ingredients
- 250 g boneless salt cod (saltfish)
- 1 tin of ackee (about 540 g), drained
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 spring onions (scallions), chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- Half a small red or yellow pepper, sliced
- Half a Scotch bonnet pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped (or less, to taste)
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme and black pepper
Method
- Soak the salt cod in cold water for several hours or overnight, changing the water two or three times. Then boil it for 15 minutes, drain, cool and break it into flakes, removing any skin and bones.
- Use only tinned ackee. Fresh ackee is poisonous unless it is fully ripe and correctly cleaned, so leave fresh fruit to experienced Jamaican cooks. Drain the tin gently, because the ackee breaks easily.
- Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion, spring onion, garlic, sweet pepper and Scotch bonnet for 3 to 4 minutes until soft. Wash your hands well after touching the Scotch bonnet.
- Add the tomato, thyme and flaked fish and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
- Fold in the ackee very gently, cover and heat through for 3 to 4 minutes without stirring hard. Season with black pepper and serve hot with fried dumplings, boiled green bananas or bread.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
The ackee tree came from West Africa in the 1700s. Its scientific name, Blighia sapida, honours Captain William Bligh, who took the fruit from Jamaica to Kew Gardens in England in 1793. Harry Belafonte sang 'Ackee rice, saltfish are nice' in his 1956 hit 'Jamaica Farewell'.
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