In Jamaica ackees are broadly classified as butter or cheese ackee. This distinction is made due to the characteristics of the aril.
If you’ve ever cooked fresh ackees, you may have noticed that sometimes it mashes out really easily; and other times it remains more firm. Additionally, you may have noticed some variation in the color of the aril (the edible part of the fruit). Some are more yellow and others more pale.
This is where the butter ackee versus cheese ackee distinction comes in.
What is butter ackee?
The aril of butter ackee is yellow in colour, soft, creamy and akin to butter. It mashes very easily when cooked. This is actually desirable for certain applications such as baking quick breads and cakes or for custards such as brulee or ice cream where you want a silky smooth result.
What is cheese ackee?
Cheese ackee on the other hand is pale cream in colour and firm, like cheese. It stands up better to being tossed around. And is desirable for applications where you want the ackee to stand up to a bit of tousling like in these pita pocketsor in ackee and saltfish.
What do you do if you’re not sure what you have or if you’re using canned ackees? Well that depends on what you want to make.
How to cook with cheese ackee
If you have just blanched your ackee and find that it is firm and you would like to make a custard or a recipe that requires mashed/pureed ackee. Place the amount of ackee needed for the recipe in a pot with a small amount of water and a pinch of baking soda and let it simmer over a low heat until the water evaporates. The baking soda will soften the ackee, you can then puree the ackee or pass it through a fine sieve for good measure.
How to cook with butter ackee
If you have just blanched your ackee and find it to be on the soft side or are using canned ackees; for applications that will require you to puree/mash the ackee, proceed without doing anything further. If you are making a recipe where you want the ackee to be on the firm side, wait till the very end to add the ackee and toss it gently so it doesn’t break up too much.
Even though cheese ackees are preferred for canning. And those are the ones that are often used in the process. Once processed they behave more like butter ackee therefore require gentler treatment.
