My love for breadfruit – Chef Michael Harrison

chef Michael harrisonMy Love for

“My love for breadfruit goes far beyond the taste. My fascination started as a boy roasting them while living in St John from around age nine years. I moved to Ferniehurst at the age of 11 to attend secondary school and continued roasting breadfruit and dove during the summer holidays. The only way I liked breadfruit back then was either roasted or green in Bajan soup and both of those are absolutely delicious.

As I got older and became a chef, my love and appreciation for it grew, so I started to experiment and explore it, but because of a fascination with having it roasted I focus a lot on that. I must say the team at Yellow Meat took the breadfruit from the boys on the block to regular Bajans, and inspired me to become more creative with it. So, the breadfruit serves the purpose for which it was originally intended when it was introduced to the Caribbean as a cheap source of food for the enslaved, but in our modern day case it was cheap lunch for hungry boys during holidays from school.

The funny thing is that people from different levels of society would have looked down on us for eating roast breadfruit as a meal, and now they spend from $20 and in one instance a few thousand dollars to have me set up a breadfruit bar which is just the roast breadfruit with multiple toppings including lobster, shrimp, pickled pigtails, braised blackbelly lamb, smoked herring and different butters including my smoked tomato tarragon butter, traditional Mello Kreem butter and different relishes like sour cucumbers, Asian slaw, pesto and shaved parmesan.

I welcome the opportunity to educate people, especially visitors to the island, about the breadfruit story. It is one of adventure and mutiny. The ship HMS Bounty was a botanical ship commissioned to collect and transport breadfruit plants to the West Indies from Tahiti in the South Pacific Ocean as a cheap source of food for the enslaved. As the story goes, when the ship left England and reached the Polynesians Islands, the crew spent most of the time collecting the breadfruit plants and developing relationships with ladies on the island.

After a few months the ship set sail for the West Indies, but the crew

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became upset with Captain Bligh’s treatment and punishment. It was also said that the breadfruit plants had more space on the boat and they were also looked after better than the men; so his acting lieutenant, Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship and set Captain Bligh and 18 of his men who were loyal to him adrift. Christian threw the breadfruit plants overboard and headed back to the islands where he and his men spent the remainder of their lives hiding from the British Navy. Captain Bligh somehow miraculously made his way back to England and returned to Tahiti where he completed his journey

Chef Michael Harrison’s talent was cultivated in the kitchens of world renowned establishments such as Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, Le Gavroche Restaurant in London, North Island Resort in the Seychelles, Carambola Restaurant, Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados and the White Barn Inn in Maine, a Five Diamond Hotel; where he had the privilege of preparing dinner for former US President, George W. Bush. Michael also cooked for David and Victoria Beckham, Actress Salma Hayek, Singer Mariah Caray and many others. Chef Harrison has trained alongside several celebrity chefs and by one of his mentors at the world famous at Le Gavroche Restaurant by Chef Michel Roux Jr., a 2 Star Michelin Restaurant in London. Chef Harrison also had stints in St. Lucia and Bermuda. The recipient of several prestigious awards and accolades, he has won the Governor General Award for Excellence, Barbados Chef of the Year, several gold, silver and bronze medals in Barbados and throughout the Caribbean. In 2013 Chef Harrison headed the Barbados Culinary Team as manager and won the most sought-after award of Caribbean Team of the Year and was one of the headliners for the Barbados Food & Rum Festival. Harrison was the first Barbadian to take up the post of Executive Chef at Cobbler’s Cove Hotel, a Relais & Chateaux Property, and is celebrated for his unique style of preparing Contemporary Caribbean Cuisine. He designed the menu and headed the team for the state dinner for Prince Henry of Wales visit to Barbados for the 50th Anniversary of Independence. Harrison is now the Group Executive Chef for Ocean Hotels Barbados which includes the luxurious south coast properties, Sea Breeze Beach House, Ocean Two Resort & Residences and South Beach Hotel. He travels frequently to promote Barbados as an unofficial Culinary Ambassador with his last trips for 2018/19 being to Brazil, Berlin, World Travel Market in London and within the Caribbean. Chef Harrison also started a culinary tour company called Island Markets and Food Vibes. This immersive foodie experience allows for an authentic cultural and culinary journey to markets and rum shops throughout the Island. In his own words, celebrated Chef Michael Harrison shares why he loves that ubiquitous and versatile food, the breadfruit.

with the breadfruits to the West Indies. To people who do not know the unpretentious breadfruit, the reaction is amazing. The locals love the creative toppings and that feeling of going back to their roots, and it’s so surprising how many locals never tried roast breadfruit before! Then there are those who just want to eat it and relax with friends and reminisce on the good old days.

One of my most rewarding experiences is serving it in a West Coast villa at a party where the host of the party wanted to treat his guests to something unusual and something they had never seen or experienced before. So I did the Breadfruit Bar where I had Roasted Breadfruit and the toppings were lobster in chardonnay sauce, grilled shrimps with ginger and garlic, braised black belly lamb with guava and mint jus, tuna salad, pigtails and buljol with mason jars with butters and relishes. I decorated the table with a small banana tree, breadfruit plant, green and roast breadfruit and small bits of wood set to show how the fire is built. That was a big hit. Plus, I told the story behind the breadfruit, slavery, and eating roast breadfruit as boy. Most of them took photos of the station and were quite impressed with the quality of the toppings and the unusual way everything came to life.

I also took roast breadfruit to London and Germany where I did events to promote Barbados and our food culture. Another highlight was conducting a cooking demo in Brazil for students in a culinary programme. They saw how I roasted it on the stove because there was no area to do it in an open fire the way I did as a boy. The demo included making cou cou and rum punch.

Brazilians also eat breadfruit as part of their culture; one of the ways they prepare it is with coconut milk which is absolutely delicious. They were amazed at the sweetness and how the flavour profile had changed so drastically to intensify the flavours. Brazil also has a similar slave culture like ours, so it was interesting to see our foods are almost identical like sugar cake, stewed guavas and Bajan cherry juice to name a few. I love the fresh cherry juice served unsweetened from a bicycle in the market and sugar was offered separately which was unique.

Breadfruit is a very sustainable food source. More trees should be planted and it should be against the law to cut one of the trees down without permission. This starchy vegetable has become super trendy to eat at this moment. It’s also a key part of one of my favourite dishes - pudding and souse. The dish has taken its place as our National Dish, in my opinion. We have created one day for this dish and that’s on Saturdays, when you can eat pudding souse from almost every rum shop on the island.

Now, we speak about Black History Month, but this dish and the breadfruit have both stood the test of time as food from the days of slavery until now and stand tall where it belongs as an integral element of our food culture.

Over the years I have prepared many different recipes using the breadfruit. I will list a few of my favourite dishes apart from the roasting. • Pickled breadfruit and sautéed flying fish with white wine sauce • Curried breadfruit, coconut, lemongrass and ginger cappuccino with shaved dark chocolate • Grilled breadfruit and watermelon salad • Breadfruit cou cou with parmesan, fresh herbs and grilled vegetables • Baked cheesy breadfruit

Recipe

Curried breadfruit, coconut, lemongrass and ginger cappuccino with shaved dark chocolate Servings – 15 In a hot sauce pot add the butter and

Preparation time – 120 minutes

Ingredients

1 small ripe breadfruit – peeled and dice 3 oz madras curry powder 2.5 oz white chocolate – rough chop 1 sprig coriander 1 medium onions - peel and rough chop 2 cloves garlic - peel and rough chop 1 sprig of thyme 1 sprig of marjoram 3 oz celery – dice 1 tin coconut milk 2 oz lemongrass – chop 2 oz ginger – peel and dice Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste Salt and pepper to taste 3oz dark chocolate- grate 1 bottle whipped cream

Method

2 oz butter sauté the curry powder and breadfruit cook for 5 minutes then add the onions, garlic, celery, lemongrass, ginger and herbs and cook for another 3 minutes. Add 4 litres of water or stock and the coconut milk season to taste with the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook for 40 minutes, blend and strain.

To plate

Place some of the soup in coffee cup or soup bowl, topped with whipped cream and add shaved dark chocolate