Ackee is the fruit of a tropical evergreen that falls into the soapberry family making it related to lychees!
It is a native of West Africa that was brought to the Caribbean in the 18th century where it has flourished and in Jamaica, risen to the status of national fruit.
Since starting on this journey and especially now that we sell our Ackee Patties, the question we answer most often is: what is ackee?
It’s a fatty fruit we usually say, but much in the way you wouldn’t consider an avocado a fruit it’s kinda like that. BUT! everything an avocado can do, the ackee can do better 🤣. These are bold words, we know! Yes, we’re biased but to be fair we also love avocados!
The fruit consists of a pear shaped husk that starts out green then changes to yellow then red(dish) when mature. Inside this husk (otherwise called the seed pod) is the edible portion of the fruit called the aril.
The arils range in color from being pale almost beige to a rich yellow color. They are firm and oily to the touch when raw. Once cooked it softens and becomes buttery with a melt in the mouth quality that is next to none! For this reason, it’s sometimes called vegetable marrow, mmm mmm mmm! 😋
Typically classified as butter or cheese ackee referring to the characteristic of the aril. See this post for more detail.
These are the parts of the ackee:
Fun fact: most ackee seed pods consist of three pods, but some rare ones have five and as many as seven!
How to Clean Ackee
If you have fresh ackee, you first have to clean it before you can cook it.
To clean the ackee: remove the pieces from the seed pod then separate the seed, membrane and aril. Keep the arils and discard the rest.
In the video below, I demonstrate how to do this. Basically, grasp the seed firmly and twist it to remove it from the aril. Use your fingers or a butter knife to take out the pink membrane. Once you have the hang of it, it’s easier to do. Some of the membranes are firm and dry and as such easy to remove with just your fingers much like I’ve done in the clip below. Whereas others tend to be slippery and more firmly set in the aril, for those its best to use the butter knife or similar implement.
How poisonous is ackee?
Now on to the next question: Isn’t ackee poisonous? I’ve said before that I’m not here to deny the facts. But also, that hype and sensationalism has driven fear into many without providing the facts. Some of these headlines like:
“deadly fruit” or
“food that Jamaicans love that can kill you” or
“that one time I nearly killed my family” or
Times most “dangerous foods”
can give you pause if you’re unfamiliar with ackee. For me seeing these headlines brings me to eye-rolling to the nth degree. The very BORING truth is that ackee that has been properly harvested and prepared is harmless.
Let’s also take note that there are other fruits and vegetables that contain poisons that are eliminated during the preparation or cooking process. Both cassava and the pits of stone fruit such as cherries, apricots and plums contain hydrogen cyanide. Much in the same way you wouldn’t go munching on cherry seeds you wouldn’t eat an ackee seed.
Can ackee kill you?
To answer the question of whether ackee can kill you. We must first look at what makes it poisonous in the first place. The first researcher who identified the active principle in ackee that caused its toxicity, and therefore allowed Jamaica to safely eat the fruit was Professor Cedric Hassall. Additionally, most of the further ackee research that has been conducted is done by Department of Chemistry at the University of the West Indies, Mona in Jamaica.
What the research shows
He observed that there is a toxin in the unripe ackee which leads to vomiting and in some cases death. This is why previously Jamaican Vomiting Sickness Syndrome was the name given to the condition observed of persons who had eaten unripe ackee. Professor Hassall called this toxin hypoglycin A and observed that it dramatically lowered blood sugar levels. Additionally, he showed that through ripening and when exposed to sunlight the levels of the toxin in the fruit drop.
Further research shows that ackees also contain hypoglycin B. Both Hypoglycin A and B are unusual amino acids. When we think of amino acids we probably all learnt at some point, that there are nine essential amino acids that our bodies need for proper functioning. I mention this here to give context to our discussion and hopefully remove yet another layer of mystery and fear.
Now back to those unusual amino acids.
Hypoglycin A is present in the aril of the fruit (the yellow fleshy bit). The levels of this toxin decrease 13-fold as the fruit matures and ripens. It is also water soluble and thus the typical recommendation to blanch the fruit and discard the cooking water before eating.
Hypogylcin B is present in the seeds of the ackee. The seeds are NEVER to be consumed. Whereas the toxin levels decrease in the aril as it ripens; the levels of the toxins in the seeds actually increase as it ripens. This is why the seeds are removed and typically discarded in the cleaning process. I do know however, that some persons dry the seeds and grind them to make exfoliates for homemade soaps. This isn’t scary or weird or strange, think of apricot scrub, that well known product from St. Ives and other brands then recall that stone fruit pits contain cyanide. It all boils down to the application.
What happens if you eat raw ackee?
The question of is it safe to eat ackee raw is another common one.
I will reiterate that the recommendation of the Department of Chemistry UWI Mona, is that the ackee be blanched (boiled) and the cooking water discarded. Further if you are boiling two items at once, they advise against boiling it in the same pot with the ackee as there is the potential for the hypoglycin A to be leeched from the ackees and absorbed by the other food it is being boiled with.
That being said, in Jamaica some persons do in fact eat ackee raw. For the most part they are only eating the fruit that has been allowed to mature fully with the pod opening naturally to reveal the seeds and arils. They are also for the most part washing the arils very well. Since the hypoglycin A is water soluble the act of washing the arils should in theory help reduce the levels.
Another preparation method before eating ackee raw, is to expose it to sunlight. This by default reduces the toxin levels which we know from the initial research findings.
Raw ackee served in Jamaica
On a visit to Jamaica in March of this year, I went to Mi Hungry in Kingston which is a raw food restaurant for lunch. On their menu is a Raw Food Burger and “Pleaza” both which can be ordered with ackee.
(Side note: I generally don’t do restaurant reviews and this isn’t a recommendation for or against Mi Hungry. I do have my feelings about both dishes I tried, most people give them positive reviews and really enjoy the food and I can understand why. For now I’ll hold on to my thoughts and will give them another try the next time I’m home before giving my overall impression)
Mi Hungry Raw Food Burger
Mi Hungry Pleaza
So what will happen to you if you eat ackee raw? Nothing: you’ll be just fine. Proper preparation is the only caveat.
Is canned ackee safe to eat?
The short answer is yes, canned ackee is safe to eat. The same precautions that you would take for any type of canned food in regard to deep dents and bulging cans apply here.
A few times over its export history there have been bans on the importation of ackee particularly in the US. This sparked further research to meet FDA guidelines and once again safeguard a marketplace for our exports. Now, all canned ackee for the US market has to be HACCP certified.
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and is a systematic approach to food safety with a focus on preventive methods rather than reactive ones. It basically means identifying areas where things could go wrong and designing measures and practices to reduce the overall risk.
This brings us to money!!! Cha-ching!!! Them dollar dollar bills y’all! Jamaica, Belize and Haiti are the only countries that currently can ackee for export. Of these three, the largest amount of processing is done in Jamaica.
Exports were at their highest level in 2016 (approximately US$20 million) that’s a massive increase over 2000 when it was US$4.4 million; with trends projecting US$29.25 million by the year 2020.
“In February 2012 for every person searching for Jamaican jerk, four persons searched for rum, eight for coffee and 40 people searched for ackee, according to Google Trends. Fast-forward to this February and ackee searches continue to dominate at 59 searches for every eight for coffee and rum; and three for jerk,” JEA stated on its website.
Karena Bennett, “Ackee exports at highest level in history,” Jamaica Observer, June 4, 2017, http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sunday-finance/ackee-exports-at-highest-level-in-history-jampro-focused-on-getting-product-in-int-8217-l-restaurants_100536/
What is Jamaica not trying to do? Mess up ALL this money coming in! So if people not getting sick was not motivation enough, a massive competitive advantage for being the only product supplier with huge revenue opportunities should do the trick.
What does ackee taste like?
Now that we’ve looked at some of the more technical things, lets get down to the eating! Mild and nutty in flavor, it is almost impossible to find a parallel. It’s literally something you must taste to understand. We make sample patties and time after time visitors say the same thing: wow that’s delicious or OMG that’s amazing! Followed by yeah, I don’t think I can compare that to something else. Visually, yes it looks like eggs and if you make my Vegan Ackee Omelette recipe with the black salt it can taste like a good approximation to eggs but thats about as far as the comparison goes. Creamy/buttery in texture it lends itself well to so many applications and that’s in fact how this whole blog started!
Ackee Recipes
So if you’re looking for ackee recipes new and old, stick around as we’re always cooking up something new!
Do you have any thoughts or questions on ackee that you’d like to share? Please leave me a comment in the comments section below.
Till the next time ☺️
Thanks for stopping by
Pin it:
