[Composed August 2nd, 2024]
Today we explored the US's only tropical rain forest in the National Forest System: El Yunque. And if I'm being honest, it wasn't until I was standing in the frozen food section of Ralph's, well after we left the park, that I began to appreciate just how excellent the day had been.
Until that moment, I'd been focusing on what hadn't worked. Crowds meant that we missed climbing Yokahu Tower. The trail we were eager to explore was closed, and the alternate hike we opted for was so arduous that we couldn't all participate. It wasn't that it had been a bad day, I had just left the park wanting more.
But standing in Ralph's, my perspective flipped. To see how, you need to go back to the beach where we enjoyed our first full day in Puerto Rico. This tree, filled with fruit, was growing near where we parked our car.
Google Lens identified it as a Noni Fruit, which is edible. However, descriptions like this one, kept me from plucking one and coaxing the kids to try it:
Although noni flourishes in tough-to-grow areas, which makes it a famine food in times of need, its funkiness — both flavor and aroma — is also one reason why noni is considered a starvation fruit to be eaten only in extremely dire times. To put it simply, noni tastes much like the smell that gives it the moniker of vomit or cheese fruit: putrid and vomit-like with hints of funky cheese. While noni, in general, has a pungent and astringent flavor, it ranges in complexity depending on the stage of ripeness.
So yeah, we passed on Noni fruit. But since then, I've been on the lookout for other tropical fruits we could forage. While roaming the El Yunque visitor's center, I noticed this fruit tree:
Google identified this as a Breadfruit, which for starters, just sounds more appetizing. The fruit, however, was well out of reach from picking.
One explanation for Breadfruit's name comes from the texture and aroma it produces when roasted over a fire:
Breadfruit originated in New Guinea and the Indo-Malay region and was spread throughout the vast Pacific by voyaging islanders. Europeans discovered breadfruit in the late 1500s. They were amazed and delighted by a tree that produced prolific, starchy fruits that, when roasted in a fire, resembled freshly baked bread in texture and aroma.
Both the past (mutiny!) and future (super-food!) of breadfruit are fascinating. From at least the 1700's to today, this fast growing, nutritious fruit has inspired scientists of the day to consider it as a resource for feeding vulnerable populations*.
In Ralph's, I found a bag of frozen breadfuit that promised easy preparation in the Airbnb's air fryer. Who needed to hike more of El Yunque, when we could taste it instead?
And so we found ourselves sitting around the Shabbos table, all bravely working up the courage to try this new food. The verdict: when fried and covered it ketchup, breadfruit is tasty! We reminisced about the day as we ate.
We talked about how the kids enjoyed the bright-red Skittles 'liquid water enhancer', and that 4 drops were basically a toxic dose. We recalled the different waterfalls we saw and how the rain didn't slow us down one bit. G shared in detail about how when she hit the limit her legs could carry her, J kept the hike going by giving her an epic piggie back ride. T and I talked about the views and snails we spotted, including two snail buddies who were sitting just so looked, depending your maturity level like a set of other-wordly eyes, or boobs.
It really was a wonderful day. Noshing on breadfruit reminded me that there's more ways to explore a location than just logging miles.
*To be clear, in the 1700's the vulnerable population were enslaved Africans. So scientists and governments were on the lookout for a way to feed a population that they brutally amassed. The use of breadfruit may have been clever and scientifically interesting; but the need for it was due to barbaric and horrific actions.
