« previous post | next post » From Barbara Phillips Long: In a cooking competition show that I was watching as an antidote to all the political news I read, the chefs were assigned canned ackee as an ingredient. I hadn't thought about ackee before; I mostly recognize the word from a song by Harry Belafonte that refers to ackee: Down at the market you can hearLadies cry out while on their heads they bearAckee rice, saltfish are niceAnd the rum is fine any time of year. Brendan Sainsbury (3/15/21) How did a meal that combines a preserved North Atlantic fish and a potentially deadly West African fruit become Jamaica’s national dish? Ackee and saltfish is synonymous with Jamaica, as entwined with the national identity as reggae or cricket. Spiked with herbs and peppers and accompanied by rich Caribbean trimmings like plantains and breadfruit, it pays testimony to the country’s tempestuous history and multiracial roots. The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt reputedly has it for breakfast .…