Who was the first person to suspect that the bowling-ball-sized,  lumpy yellow-green-ish growth on tree trunks in the topics actually held somethng edible? Who was the brave soul who hacked this big round object down and found a way in? And, finally, who took the first tentative taste?

I had an encounter with jackfruit while visiting family in Hilo, Hawaii. I had heard of jackfruit in the recesses of memory, but had it confused with breadfruit, which is a rather acquired starchy food. Jackfruit, on the other hand, was truly fruit.

You cut the fruit off the trunk of the jackfruit tree. It hangs by a small thick stem. Cutting it away from the tree releases some very sticky sap substance. I wonder if that is a way to keep the prized fruit safe from fruit predators.

Once cut down, it is sliced open by a large and sharpish knife or little machete. The fruit inside, the prize itself, is difficult to acquire, due to the protective peel or layering covering the pale yellow inside.

How does this tropical enigma taste? It's a nice cross between a pineapple and a banana, more the consistency of a pineapple but smoother and more tender. Evidently, there is an art to picking the jackfruit at its peak flavor.

It would be excellent in a smoothie, eaten raw or possibly baked in a pie or muffins. At the Hilo Farmers Market, you can nibble on fresh jackfruit without all the drama and fuss of snagging it yourself, but where's the fun in that? Like so many tropical fruits we seldom see on the mainland --- I'm thinking rambutan, lillikoi, guava -- it's an amazing acquired taste. Like a coconut, it's hard work to get to the good stuff, but well worth the effort.