Caribbean Knowledge Exchange

Introduction of Breadfruit

Breadfruit (ʻulu in Hawaiian) is a traditional Pacific crop that was introduced to Hawaiʻi about 1,000 years ago by Polynesian voyagers, the islands’ first human inhabitants. There it provided an important source of nutritious staple food for the growing population and contributed to the development of a complex and highly sophisticated agricultural society across the islands. Meanwhile, breadfruit was brought to the Caribbean by British navigators in the late 1700s to feed the slavetrade upon which various European colonizers built sugarcane plantations. Originally introduced to St Vincent in the Lesser Antilles and then Jamaica in the Greater Antilles, once breadfruit was in the Caribbean it spread from island to island. Today, breadfruit has become naturalized across the region, and is a popular locally grown staple alongside plantains, cassava, and other starches. 

Breadfruit Culture in the Caribbean

Given its original connection to slavery, it is not surprising that in some Caribbean countries, breadfruit was not initially embraced by local residents.  However, in Puerto Rico, people fell in love with breadfruit from the start. Soon after the crop’s introduction, many homes had their own breadfruit tree, known as panapen, mapen or pana in different parts of the country (pan means bread in Spanish). Communities relied on these trees and other viandas (traditional starches like cassava) for sustenance. 

Interestingly, pana in Puerto Rico has also come to mean “close friend”, which some say has to do with the tradition of gifting breadfruit to close friends when visiting them (here is a “pana for my pana”, or a “breadfruit for my friend”). Breadfruit has also long been recognized as a nutritious and filling staple food in Puerto Rico, with another phrase “chuleto de gancho” referring to breadfruit as “porkchop of the branch,” because it can be eaten as a main course. 

While Puerto Rico is still a colony of the U.S., its Boricua people (from Boriken – the indigenous Taino name for Puerto Rico) celebrate their successful resistance to colonization of culture since the American invasion of 1898. This includes language, customs, and music, but also food, including pana. Supposedly, after the American takeover from Spain following the Spanish-American War, Americans offered to pay Puerto Ricans to cut down their breadfruit trees in order to replace pana with U.S.-grown potatoes. This was vehemently rejected and Puerto Ricans protected their breadfruit trees, or in some cases, took the money knowing that breadfruit regenerates through the root system and would regrow within a few years. Some Puerto Ricans even regard breadfruit as a sacred tree, with one local likening it to the weirwood of Westeros in Game of Thrones.

Breadfruit Cuisine

In Hawaiʻi, Puerto Rico and St. Croix, traditional breadfruit preparations were simple. In Hawaiʻi, ʻulu was cooked in an imu (underground oven) or roasted over the fire, and the chunks were flavored with sea salt, coconut milk or pounded into poi and eaten with fish or meat. After the introduction of western cooking techniques, ʻulu was also baked, steamed or boiled, but still generally eaten as a relatively plain starch alongside the main course. In Puerto Rico and St. Croix, traditional preparations include boiled or roasted breadfruit served with salted fish or meat, perhaps drizzled with olive oil and salt. 

Today, however, in all three territories, breadfruit is seeing a culinary renaissance. In Puerto Rico, relatively recent innovations feature pana instead of plantains in traditional dishes like tostones, mofongo, rellenos, and pastelles, as well as new creations such as pastelon (similar to shepardʻs pie), gnocchi, and more. A new breadfruit restaurant called Panapen & Co. has even been established in Caguas, about 30 minutes from San Juan, featuring pana in every dish! In St. Croix, beyond vodka, breadfruit is turned into mash, croutons, and a creamy drink called Sea Moss.