20/09/2019
It is the ultimate ugly duckling story, a fruit that won the lottery. Five years ago, jackfruit was just a spectacularly ugly, smelly, unfarmed, unharvested pest-plant native to India. Some people ate it, but only if they had nothing better to eat. Kerala alone disposed of 35 crore (an Indian measurement of 10 million, used predominantly for – this is true – rupees, people and jackfruit) a year. Last year, however, Kerala exported 500 tonnes of the stuff, set to increase to 800 tonnes in 2019.
It is not the weirdest plant anyone has put in a tin (that would be ackee, which tastes like scrambled egg), nor is it the tastiest tinned item with such a low calorie count (that would be heart of palm), but it has cornered the vegan market, and thence the world, nonetheless. Pinterest named it one of the hottest food trends of 2017, so it should have fallen out of fashion by now (remember the doughnut peach?). But as long as veganism is on the rise, this gross-looking lump of fibre – fat, spiky and green, it could have been animated for a bit part in Monsters, Inc – will be its star.
