SOMETHING TO EAT ACKEE & SALTFISH Melissa Thompson,

When I go to visit my parents and Dad makes this, I’m immediately transported to my childhood. The dish is so evocative for me. Still, to this day, my parents split the tasks: Dad on ackee and saltfish, Mum on plantain and dumpling duty.

Because canned ackee is so expensive, Dad would only use one can and that determined how much could be made. So instead I’d monitor Mum as she mixed the dumpling dough, willing her to make loads.

This is a dish that I always eat with my hands, using torn bits of fried dumpling to scoop up mouthfuls. And I mop up every bit of sauce.

Ackee and saltfish encapsulates the essence of Jamaican food in its conjoining of ingredients from various sources to create something that, to me, is greater than the sum of its parts. Saltfish imported from North America, primarily Canada, was traded with Europe as part of the Triangular Trade.