The canned lobes are a passable substitute, and good brands to look for are Linstead Market and Grace; just take extra care not to jostle the cans or expose them to drastic temperature changes, as the creamy yellow lobes of flesh are prone to disintegrate into mush. You can purchase canned ackee online from Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace (or Amazon); it can also be purchased wherever Jamaican specialty products are sold.
Starches and Grains
starches commonly used in Jamaican cooking
If you’ve ever looked at our dancehall or our sprinters and wondered, “What makes them go?” This section is your answer.
All-purpose, self-rising, whole wheat…in a cuisine that pops chile flavor and drips hot sauces, the heat-suppressant and gravy-sopping properties of fried, baked, grilled, and boiled dough are indispensable.
Standard preparations include our dense, unfilled dumplings (boiled or fried), fried bake (a larger, more tender oxymoron of a fried dumpling that we borrowed from Trinidad), festivals (large hush puppies that have picked up a sugar habit and a few kinks), coco bread, and meat patties. Sweeter applications include rum cake, black cake, Easter spice buns, and plantain tarts, among an abundance of desserts and snacks.
