Caribbean Cuisine: Breadfruit, Our Daily Bread

Detailed paper engraving of three breadfruits, the fruit of the breadfruit tree. Also included are the leaves of the fruits themselves.

Engraving of breadfruit, the fruit of the breadfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis).

By Shermaya Michelle Paul (Roots in St. Vincent and Dominica)

Welcome to an in-depth exploration of breadfruit’s historical and cultural significance in the Caribbean, tracing its colonial introduction through scientific enterprise and examining how it was reimagined through cultural adaptation, resistance, and everyday culinary traditions.

This exhibit features a well-known Caribbean food staple: breadfruit. (Fig. 1) Despite mixed feelings about its taste, many Caribbean people across the islands enjoy it as a side dish for any meal. Beyond its flavor, however, the breadfruit tree, its seeds, and its saplings carry a bittersweet history tied to the lives of enslaved people in the Caribbean. Drawing on Frederick Ober’s Camps in the Caribbes: The Adventures of a Naturalist in the Lesser Antilles, which depicts his travels through the region, this exhibit invites you to peel back the layers of breadfruit’s origins, movement, and uses.