We had this huge jackfruit tree very close to our entrance gate in my Grandpa's house in Verem Reis-Magose. Every April to end May use to be the summer holidays and we use to have a lot of Bombay crowd coming to spend their holidays in Goa. The tree was at a spot that no one could miss looking at it. In Goa the two jackfruits were Kaapaw and rosaad. The Kaapaw being very firm and crispy well as the rosaad being very soggy and messy. I always preferred the Kaapaw though it was difficult to deal with compared to the rossad. In Goa people in the old days were very superstious and they had this thing to wrap the jackfruit tree with palm leaves after they were pleated. They use to do this to avoid evil eyes from passer byes.
Every alternate year the tree use give us maximum fruit and to huge sizes. The kaapaw jackfruit I have seen to its maximum size is like 3 feet. When the fruits were nearing their ripping stage we could get the smell from a distance. and then we use to peep in between the coconut palms to see if they have become zoon (a konkani word for nearly ripe) and we use to use to our two fingers to tick the fruit to check if was ready to be taken off. Usually we use to go the market and call a gut who knew all this and we use to pay him. Usually when the jackfruit reaches it ripening stage its spikes from spread and the fruit turns yellowish green. A sharp knife was used to cut the fruit off the tree and we use to pluck a good lot. When the fruit was cut we had to deal in handling the fruit, two things to take care off. One was the DEEK ( A white seacretion which is very sticky and messy. u need oil to get rid of it. so usually we use to apply coconut oil to our hands before dealing with jackfruits. the second thing to take care was avoiding the fruit with your body as it would give you an scratchy feeling. Once the fruits were plucked from the tree we use to take them and place them with end facing downwards. I do not know what was the secret behind this. There was one thing for sure in two to three days your whole house was smelling of jackfruits. Cutting the jack fruit is another laborious and patently job. The women are best at this since they have all the patience. You oil your hands with coconut oil take a sharp knife and cut it open, separating the fruits and seeds with lots of patience. I could never resist eating the fruits while cutting. We would eat till we were full and then no lunch. The seeds were kept and dried and later baked in coal or boiled in water to eat during tea time in the evenings. If I am not mistaken it can be cooked as a vegetable dish too. Sometimes Grandma use to dry the Jackfuits after coating them with sugar and give to us as a snack. very yummy!!! All our neighbours who use to visit Goa for their summer holidays use to book their orders in advance. Now a days i visit Goa and see the fruit no more in our compound or what we call Bhaat in Konkani. when ever i go to the vegetable market in Panjim i see hawkers selling it in small plastic sachets for 10 rupees, where once upon a time we use to buy the whole fruit for that price. Now I have been in the U.A.E. and we see it sometimes at supermarkets WELCOME TO EDU'S WORLD edu [EMAIL PROTECTED]
