THE MAGICAL JACKFRUIT

​Two decades ago our western world was introduced to a “new” and exotic fruit from Mexico. The avocado. Can you imagine that only 20 years ago our parents didn’t eat guacamole on daily basis, or that poached eggs were not accompanied by some avo-mash, or that the blue-cheese-pear salad did not contain fresh avo slices? Unthinkable, right?
Twenty years later we’re now opening our eyes for a new fruit, this time coming from India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Enter the Jackfruit.
 
It’s fully natural, high in vitamins and protein, and low in calories and carbs. This magnificent fruit is the new big thing on the food scene. When it’s ripe the sweet flavour is perfect for desserts. When it’s not ripe, it’s a vegetarian and vegan heaven. The muscular texture provides an amazing alternative to meat and the fact that it’s so easy to cook makes it a must have product in your kitchen.
When it comes to the health benefits of the Jackfruit I can go on and on. Because it’s rich in potassium, it can help reduce blood pressure and the fibre in the seeds helps for a healthy digestive system. “Bad” cholesterol (LDL) gets removed and sent back to the liver and vitamin C works its magic on your immune system. The vitamin C in the fruit also help the body make collagen, aka shiny hair, spotless skin and strong bones.
You can read about the positives of eating Jackfruit all over the internet, but the story that I’m about to tell you is something that very few people know.
Do you remember the story of a poor little boy that lived with his mum and their dairy cow? When the cow stopped giving milk, he was meant to sell it and bring back the money to his mum, but instead he bought magic beans. Do you remember the name of the boy?
Jack.
You guessed right. The magical Beanstalk is actually a Jack tree! Mind blowing! And the giants living in the skies? Well those, my dear friends, were the Jackfruit.
Back then the people were really small, just a little bigger than my thumb. So it makes perfect sense that they would see the 15 metre tree as a ladder to the sky and the fruit, that can reach up to 90 centimetres in length, as giant foes with prickly skin. When it comes to the conversations that Jack had with the giants, I believe he smoked another plant before he climbed the tree.
 
 
Years passed, people grew to the size we are now, and the world got smaller. We forgot the story of the boy, we forgot the magic, we forgot the excitement of the unknown. We know that golden eggs don’t exist, that dairy cows are mistreated, and that climbing high trees can lead to broken bones. We like knowing things and there’s nothing wrong with that. You read all of this because you wanted to educate yourself about the Jackfruit. Well, that didn’t work out great for you, because my story is obviously made up, but what I hope I’ve achieved is to remind you that we once used to believe in magic.
Think about that the next time you eat a Jackfruit 😉