On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 733

compounds).Theirfleshcontainshundredsof
small seeds and many gritty stone cells, so
guavas are most often used to make purees,
juices, syrups, and preserves. The Spanish
colonizers exploited their high pectin content
tomakeaNewWorldversionofquincepaste.
Guavas are remarkable for a vitamin C
contentthatcanreach1gramper100grams,
with much of it concentrated near and in the
thin,fragilepeel.
Theso-calledpineappleguava,orfeijoa,
comesfromtheshrubFeijoasellowiana,also
aSouthAmericanmemberofthemyrtle
family.Itsharesasimilarsizeandstructure
andsomeflavorelementswithguava,butits
strongaromaisdistinctiveandlesscomplex,
dominatedbyaparticulargroupofesters
(frombenzoicacid).Ittooisusuallypulped
andstrainedforuseinliquidpreparations.
Breadfruit and Jackfruit Breadfruit and
jackfruitarefruitsoftwospeciesoftheAsian


genusArtocarpus, a relative of the mulberry
andfig,andresembleeachotherinstructure.
They’re very large assemblies of fused
ovariesandtheirseeds;breadfruitsmayreach
9lb/4kg,andjackfruits10timesthatweight.
Jackfruit,anativeofIndia,hasaconventional
compositionforafruit—mostlywater,with
8% sugar and 4% starch — and develops a

strong, complex aroma with musky, berry,
pineapple, and caramel notes. It’s eaten raw
andinicecreams,aswellasdried,preserved,
and pickled. Breadfruit, whose origins in the
Pacific islands remain unclear, gets its name
fromitsveryhighstarchcontent,asmuchas
65%byweight(with18%sugarandjust10%
water) when mature but unripe, and when
cooked into a dry, absorbent mass. It’s a
staple food in the South Pacific and in the
Caribbean, where it was taken by Captain
Bligh of the notoriousBounty mutiny. It may
be boiled, roasted, fried, or fermented into a
sour paste, then dried and ground into flour.