One of the many fascinating things about cooking is how revealing ingredients can be if they are cut a different way (from the usual to which we are accustomed), or if they are cooked using a technique or method we have never considered applying before. It can also be the application of a spice, herb, marinade or paste that offers up new and different ways to enjoy food, particularly certain ingredients which we are not really fans of, but we still have anyhow. Breadfruit fries gave me a new appreciation and liking for breadfruit, and I am telling you about it, because it’s worth trying, whether or not you like breadfruit. You just might like it.
Credit for this idea goes to Chef Delven Adams of the Backyard Café. Chef Adams’s celebration of Guyanese cuisine is inspiring. I really like how he uses local ingredients, keeping some things traditional, while at the same time innovating and putting his own creativity to work in ways that still make our foods recognizable and more so, appealing. A couple of months ago, I saw one of his plated breakfast dishes with the Breadfruit fries and there was a video also showing some prep work of him cutting the breadfruit into these thick-cut fries. It was one of those things where you ask yourself why you had never considered that… perhaps it is because we are not chefs. The truth is that many of us prep and cook ingredients based on what we grew up knowing and seeing. Sure, there are some variations here and there from recipe books, magazines, and stuff online, but for the most part, we stick with the familiar.
I have made breadfruit chips before; I am talking about the kind where the breadfruit is sliced wafer thin using a slicer and fried crisp. And there are variations to this because we tend to cut the breadfruit about 3 millimetres thick and fry them crisp. I have often found that fried this way, breadfruit chips are best the same day. Now, these breadfruit fries are different, they are thick cut with a thin crust and soft inside when fried. A bonus for these breadfruit fries is that even at room temperature, they are tasty and the texture pleasing. The next day, when reheated in a traditional or toaster oven (not the microwave), they are crisp on the outside and still soft on the inside. I tend to cut my fries a little thicker these days just because I know they reheat so well.
I am not a big fan of breadfruit. When I feel like it, I eat it because it’s there. It is not something that I ever crave, and my favourite way has always been to have it as chips. I have made it as Cou-cou, as pie with cheese sauce as well as with sauteed ground meat. I have roasted it – over the fire, plain and stuffed with cooked meats, and in the oven; I’ve made boil and fry; used it when ripe to make a sweet pudding and bread among other things. In other words, I have cooked breadfruit in a wide variety of ways but none that make me want to have it regularly. Twice fried as tostones has been one of my go-to ways to cook breadfruit. However, these breadfruit fries are the closest I have come to actually seeking out breadfruit to cook.
I love potato fries (call them chips or French fries) but I don’t have them often, only as a treat. I mostly make plantain fries that take less time and oil to cook and are a healthier starch. Besides the benefits, I really like fried green plantain as fries or crisp chips. They (plantain fries) are best hot/very warm; once they get cold (room temperature) the texture changes and they are not so appetising; they are a cook-and-eat-at-the-same-time food. The breadfruit fries feeds my love for fries. They are not deep fried, they are pan/shallow fried and cook up in 2 to 3 minutes depending on how thick you cut them. Use/eat them just as you would potato fries – by themselves with your favourite condiment or accompanied with whatever fried, grilled, roast, barbecued or baked meats or seafood you prefer. Or instead of plantain and eggs this weekend, how about some breadfruit and eggs instead?
Seriously, give these breadfruit fries a try, I think it will quickly become one of your favourite ways to have it. I sent photos of the fries to Guyanese and Bajan friends asking if they ever had breadfruit like this and the answer was no, but since then, they have all reported liking the idea to add to their repertoire of ways to cook breadfruit.
To make these breadfruit fries, simply peel the breadfruit, remove the core as you normally would and then cut the breadfruit into thick pieces lengthways and crossways, just as you would when making fries and cook in heated oil. There is no need to soak the breadfruit in salted water before cooking it. Season with salt as soon as you take them out of the pan.
Tip: Be creative in seasoning your breadfruit fries, use more than plain salt although they are excellent with salt. Consider adding freshly ground black pepper to the salt or mix chilli powder with salt. In other words, create your own spiced seasoning salt. Freshly ground jeera with salt and chilli powder or black pepper is a nice combo. As I said, play around and be creative with your seasoning salts.
Thanks Chef Delven Adams! Keep creating!
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
