I tried this for the first time today. It was tinned (blah!) in salt water (blah!), but I desperately wanted to try it- doing my big macho 'I want to try every fruit/veg I can lay my hands on!' thing!

Oh my, did it taste weird! It kind of smelt eggy (looks like scrambled eggs), and tasted like big chunks of margarine. Very weird. Like avocado, but not as nice.

I've read the toxicity stuff on Wikipedia, so I wont be making a habit of eating it.

I'm interested to hear other people's opinions on this strange fruit!

Hi RawNoggin! Ackee is native to Jamaica. (and I'm sure many other tropical areas) We pick it (most people have access to an Ackee tree in JA), clean (removal of poisonous part) and cook it for use it in our national dish, Ackee and Salt-fish (heavily salted cod-fish?). Needless to say, before I went veggie I enjoyed this dish immensely.

Ackee is very firm straight from the 'pod', which is actually the thick, red skin. Ackee is yellow-ish with large, shiny black seeds. Anyway, depending on how long you cook it and with what type of oil, it doesnt have to be mushy, as you described. In fact my Mom would only cook it lightly, still pretty firm in texture.

Yes, the canned version is kinda gross from what I remember. I don't think raw Ackee is edible, someone correct me if I'm wrong. I rememeber my mom 'cleaning' the Ackee by removing some red particles from the yellow 'fruit'.

Ahh, Ackee is now another cooked food for me to crave, haha. (I've been about 99% raw for 3 months and havent had any slip-ups so far...)

thanks for the reply, rawbabie!

LOL, it's funny to think of ackee as being a cooked food :-)

It must be amazing seeing this interesting fruit hanging on trees in nature!

I don't know why, but I'd imagine raw ackee as having the texture of uncooked tofu!

The raw ackee is smooth and firm, and cooking it gives it the texture of tofu. It really does have an incredible flavor and texture. It is to Jamaicans what rice or the potato is to other cultures. Where did you find the canned ackee, in a regular or specialty store?

I've spoken to someone who said when they were younger in Jamaica they used to eat it raw and have heard of others who did the same as well. Personally, I've only had them cooked.

Squirrels however,love to eat them raw, many times competing with homeowners to get them off the tree since they instinctly recognize when they are fit to be picked.

Wishing you vibrant health

Thanks Pistachio, I'm going to ask my mom and grandmom if they ever ate Ackee raw. I can imagine it being pretty tasty actually.

Pistachio Wrote:
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> Squirrels however,love to eat them raw, many times
> competing with homeowners to get them off the tree
> since they instinctly recognize when they are fit
> to be picked.

That's so cute! :-)