Miguel Braganza
After almost a decade of promotion at the Konkan Fruit Fest and four years of workshops, training courses, competitions and exhibitions through the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the day of the jackfruit has arrived. Goa has chosen the jackfruit for development in North Goa under the One District, One Product (ODOP) programme under the Government of India PM-FME programme. A multi-fruit processing unit has been set up in the Pale-Velguem area of Bicholim taluka and the processing of jackfruit into pulp, chips and other products has begun in earnest.
Jackfruit is a part of Goan culture and tradition. If one looks prosperous and well-rounded, it is not rare to hear the expression ‘Sarko ponnos kaso zala’ a Konkani expression meaning that one has become huge like a jackfruit. It is available in plenty this season and is the traditional gift for the ‘Sao Joao’ revellers, who need to jump in the well to retrieve the bottle of feni if they are spiritually inclined.
The jackfruit is easy to share because it is actually a bunch of fruits, aseptically shrink-wrapped by Mother Nature. One does not need a knife to cut open a ‘rosall’ jackfruit which is simply called ‘ponnos’ in the South, where the ‘kapo’ is ‘borkoi’. The word is a possible corruption of the Malayalam word ‘varka’ for the harder ‘chakka’ that the Portuguese promptly converted to ‘jaca’ and the English to ‘jackfruit’. The entire west coast and western ghats are home to the jackfruit
The jackfruit tree can survive drought and high temperatures. Its leaves are fodder for cattle and goats, which in turn give us milk, meat and manure. Its wood is good timber. Vegan chicken is what jackfruit is known as in many parts of the world including its native land, India. One can also make caffeine-free jaffee from the seeds. Sunetra Talaulikar of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) North has published brochures and booklets with her recipes and is writing a chapter for an upcoming book.
In 2019, Liza Pinheiro and her team demonstrated the different ways to cook jackfruit at the annual ‘Ponnsachem Fest’ at Socorro. It is an event we will miss again this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Fr Santana Carvalho, who was the fulcrum of the fests, will always be remembered for his contribution though he no longer walks this good earth.
The pandemic has changed the way we live our lives. In the days when fresh vegetables were hard to get, people in Goa learnt to cook tender jackfruit that was available both fresh and in its ready-to-cook (RTC) form. The Agricos Alumni Association, has promoted the value addition of tender, mature and ripe jackfruits through its Sunday webinar at 4 p.m. Making of jacada or doce of jackfruit pulp – that is more like the perada or guava cheese rather than the jam-like mangada of ripe mangoes – is being revived, while making upside-down jackfruit cake is a welcome addition. Plenty of products to enjoy even if Sao Joao is restricted to just a dip in the bathtub.