Today I decided I wanted to cook one of the bread fruits from the tree in the back of my dad's house. So I went online to familiarize myself with the fruit. Here in the island the fruit is known as pana.
According to what I read it was similar to green plantains. The first thing i needed to know was how to identify a mature pana. Honestly I've never eaten one, and pretty much knew nothing about them till today.
After washing it, I began to prep it. I had to experiment a little so I could decide the best way to cook it. My pops doesn't cook much, and the he hasn't had this home for long. So I was lacking in certain cooking tools. For example a cutting board.
So this post isn't really a how to blog. It's more of a here what I discovered. The first thing that I noticed was that the outside of the bread fruit had a sticky sap, yet the inside juice was milky and starchy. The smell of the raw fruit resembled a potato.
The videos I watched said that all of the fruit is edible. Yet I cut the top, and similar to cutting a squash. I cut out the center. Then cut it into small cubes.
I sampled a piece of the raw fruit. The taste is similar to that of a raw potato, with a similar level of starch.
I figured that I couldn't go wrong with sausage, so I chopped some up into cubes. Then I started sauteeing the bread fruit with some olive oil. Sprinkled some salt pepper, and added some garlic butter.
The entire time I was experimenting. I added some maple syrup hoping it would go nice with the sausage. As it cooked, I realized that it was absorbing the juices the pan and becoming softer and more flavorful. So I added more butter to the pan, and slowly let the ingredients caramelize.
After which I pour some beer into the pan, and covered it letting it steam cook.
As it cooked the pana began to soften, and the flavors combined. Once everything was cooked. It was time to eat.
I really like the flavor. As I sat there eating, the dish reminded me of the home fries served with breakfast dishes at local diners. Pana really does taste like potatoes. So when my dad got home. I made him two eggs over easy with the bread fruit and sausage on the side. Originally I only hoped he'd try some and give me his feedback. None the less I left a small portion for him.
It was the moment of truth. Because he left the house as I was returning with the freshly cut bread fruit in my hand. His response to my idea of cooking the fruit, was that he wasn't a fan of it. Yet after seeing how I cooked it. He decided to try it, and he was pleased with the results. So for me that's a victory. He grew up with that tree in his back yard, and wasn't a fan of pana. So for me to have cooked it in a way that he enjoyed eating it, while Knowing next to nothing about it. I'd say I did pretty good.
The pictures used in this blog are mine, and we taken using me one plus 7 pro. Experimenting