You Don't Know Jackfruit!

Ahh, summer. How do I ever justify baking in this season of nectar? Strawberries, drupe-fruits of all shapes and sizes (Rainier cherries and nectarines being my favorites), watermelon... summer is the time of year you can pluck and eat globes of sweet joy, gustatory jewels of the good earth, warmed by the sun... as far as I'm concerned. Are my birkenstocks showing? Ah, well. Vitamin D overdose, maybe.

So, though I'd encountered many a canned exotic fruit on aisle 9 of this 99 Ranch Market and that — canned toddy palm, coconut sport, taro halo halo jello, ad infinitum, I've never really fallen for an exotic fruit. Papaya smells like vomit. Durian? The stink is legendary. Not a taste I have yet acquired. This is what I carry in my purse in lieu of pepper spray. Dragonfruit? Pretty, but not really much going on in terms of flavor. Jicama's flashy sister.

But yesterday at 99 Ranch in Van Nuys, the Jackfruit display enveigled me, led me by the nose... a scent as sweet and arresting as a Moscato wine, and then I saw its correspondingly bold visual presence.



It's all "KABAM WHAT UP BOO I'M A PILE OF JACKFRUIT! I COULD KILL YOU IF I HAD A FEW FLOORS ON YA, HOLLAH."

I admit, I only bought some because they had cellophaned quarters for sale (see there at the bottom?), and they looked and smelled very, very yummy.

Cut to the chase — this is a seasonal option you won't find year round, and a treat you'll be happy you tracked down. If you live in the greater LA area or any other metro area with a big enough Asian population, check the Asian market out.

The fruit is huge, leathery, almost spiky like its cousin, the durian, but like nothing so much as a triceratops testacle. Nubby. Reptilian. Cretaceous. Inside there's a sweet-smelling, sticky, stringy weblike structure of cells, akin to the spongy and papery one you'll find in a pomegranate. Where the arils of pomegranate would be, jackfruit has large, yellow-orange corn-kernel shaped fruits, with pits in their centers. Did I mention the stickiness? This isn't juice, it's sap. It's hard to wash off your fingers and lips, but I doubt you'll mind.

The fruit is firm in texture, like a mango or an unripe banana. A very pleasurable texture to munch. The flavor has notes of muscat, banana, pineapple, mango, and Handsome Consort insists, like the durian, onion. Honestly I didn't notice that. I'd call that lower, caramel note bananalike.

Here's a charming video explaining how to prepare and eat one, in case I've been unconvincing or obtuse. I urge you to make this the summer of jackfruit! Sit on the front steps and try the thai treat that will give you a sticky grin you may not have had since the popsicle years.