It was a UK publication's article about the jackfruit that stirred the proverbial hornet's nest on social media. An article entitled ‘Jackfruit is a vegan sensation – could I make it taste delicious at home?’ written by Zoe Williams traced the trajectory of the jackfruit which has now become a vegan favourite; a fashionable meat substitute. However the things she said about the jackfruit raised rather a lot of hackles:
According to the writer, the jackfruit is “spectacularly ugly, smelly, unfarmed, unharvested pest-plant native to India” which apparently is eaten only when there is nothing better to eat. She believes that the “gross-looking lump of fibre” could have been a part of Monsters, Inc
Clearly the writer doesn’t know anything, felt a lot of people. Just because she just heard of the jackfruit as a meat substitute for bleeding heart vegans in the west, this doesn’t mean that Indians haven’t relished and celebrated it for generations!
For those that love the jackfruit in all its stages of ripeness and its various forms of preparation, article was not at all amusing.
Jackfruit is widely eaten and loved in many parts of India; especially Kerala. So Malayalis in particularly had a lot to say about this. While some wanted Jackfruit for president, others wondered what happened to make the writer so bitter that she clearly could not appreciate the good things of life.
A lot of commentators including this person talking about Sindhi and Konkani cuisine pointed out that jackfruit is a popular ingredient in many other places in India as well.
Some commentators took digs at the Western’s habit of ‘discovering’ things (and food, and land and people) that have been in existence for ages. Another commentator felt that the article is yet another example of the “ill informed western narrative of the eastern world.”
People from various parts of India offered helpful advice and had various useful inputs to offer about ways to cook and eat the fruit.
There is much that people will forgive, but dissing the jackfruit? That is an unforgiveable transgression!
A lot of people pointed out that the jackfruit is a staple not only in India but many other parts of South Asia as well.
There are many Indian herbs and spices whose medical uses the west is now discovering. Now that the west has ‘discovered’ what in common parlance is ‘chakka’ or ‘kathal’, it has become fashionable. While some took the piece as amusing (as the writer no doubt meant for it to be), for some jackfruit lovers, “If you liked the Guardian jackfruit piece we cannot be friends. Ever.”
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