Ackee & Saltfish

The memory begins here

Jamaica's National Dish and the Story of Two Continents

Ackee and Saltfish is not just a recipe — it is Jamaica's national dish, its coat of arms on a plate, the single food that every Jamaican on earth considers home. The story of this dish is the story of the island itself: the ackee tree was brought to Jamaica from West Africa aboard slave ships in the 1770s, likely from the region that is now Ghana, where it is called 'ankye'. The salt cod came from the opposite direction — shipped from the cold waters of Newfoundland and Norway to feed enslaved workers cheaply.

Captain William Bligh of HMS Bounty fame is credited with bringing the ackee tree to Jamaica from West Africa in 1793. The fruit's scientific name, Blighia sapida, honours him — though the real credit belongs to the enslaved Africans who recognised its food value.