Bread Tree

There are several of these trees on my walk route. They seem to be producing fruits throughout the year. The fruits resemble jackfruits. Sometimes, I see people plucking them from the trees. 

One day, my curiosity got the better of me, and I asked the guys plucking the fruits, what tree it is and how is the fruit eaten. It was then that I learned they are called bread trees. An elder gentleman said they can be deep fried and eaten like fritters or bread.

A search on Google reveals that the Bread tree is one of the highest producing food plants in the world. Now, this is interesting to know. When times are desperate, I know where my next meal is coming from. 

Apparently, Breadfruit - as the fruit is called, is  a major carbohydrate source, a staple throughout much of the tropical regions. The seedless breadfruit is commonly made into fritters and eaten as snacks. In some places, the fritters are sold as local street food. 

Both ripe and unripe fruit have culinary uses; unripe breadfruit is cooked before consumption. The unripe fruit is roasted, baked, fried or boiled. When cooked, the taste of moderately ripe breadfruit is described as potato-like, or similar to freshly baked bread. The fruit can be eaten once cooked, or can be further processed into a variety of other foods. 

At maturity, the fruit is white inside and starchy; when green or under ripe, the fruit is hard and starchy like a potato. Breadfruit is mostly utilized as a vegetable and, when cooked, has a musky, fruity flavor and, yet, extremely mild, lending itself well to bold dishes such as curries. Ripe breadfruit may have a texture like ripe avocado, or be as runny as ripe brie cheese.

The breadfruit tree has large, thick, deeply notched leaves. The entire tree yields a milky juice called latex when cut, which is useful for a number of things, most notably, boat caulking. 

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