BREADFRUIT FACTS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 48, Issue 2818, 5 October 1938, Page 3

BREADFRUIT FACTS

SUCH. A TREE DOES EXIST USEFUL FOR NATIVE RACES Did you ever wonder if there really is a breadfruit tree ? asks W. P. Keasbey, in the Christian Science Monitor. The name “breadfruit tree” may call to mind a fanciful picture of golden loaves of bread dangling from branches; but there is, however, actually a breadfruit tree, which is native to Polynesia and Malaysia, where its fruit occupies somewhat the dietary place held by cereals in temperate zones. The tree belongs to the same general family as the mulberry and the fig, and, if not crowded, grows to a height of from 30 to 40 feet. The breadfruit tree is a strictly tropical plant, requiring a hot, moist atmosphere.

The fruit is round or oval, and is from four to six inches long; and the edible part lies between the somewhat rough rind and the core. Different varieties of the tree ripen at varying periods, making possible an almost continuous supply of breadfruit. This delicacy may be prepared in a number of ways. The fruit is picked just before it ripens, at which time it is crammed with a starchy substance resembling fresh bread. In the South Sea Islands it is commonly baked whole in a pit filled with hot embers, after which the edible part is scooped out. The flavour of the resulting dish resembles that of boiled potatoes and sweet milk.

Another way of preparing breadfruit is to beat the edible portion into a paste, after which it may be stored underground for weeks.

Breadfruit may be eaten with meat and gravy as a vegetable, or it may be mixed with coconut milk to make a very delightful pudding. Or, it may be preserved by cutting the fruit into thin slices and drying them in the sun. The dried slices may then be made into flour for use in bread, puddings or biscuits.

The breadfruit tree proves very useful to the natives, for it not only produces food, but the inner bark is made into a kind of cloth. The wood (which resembles mahogany) is made into boats and furniture, and the milky fluid that oozes out when the stem is slashed is made into caulking material and glue.