Ackee and saltfish is the national dish of Jamaica.
The dish combines boiled ackee fruit with salted cod, usually sautéed with onions, tomatoes, Scotch bonnet pepper and seasonings. It is commonly served for breakfast, alongside breadfruit, dumplings, hard-dough bread, boiled green bananas or rice. Although ackee resembles scrambled eggs when cooked, it is a fruit rather than an egg substitute.
Ackee, or Blighia sapida, originated in West Africa and was brought to Jamaica before 1725. Its scientific name honours Captain William Bligh, who transported the plant to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1793. The fruit must be properly ripened and prepared: unripened ackee can contain hypoglycin toxins, so the flesh is eaten only after the pod opens naturally.
Salted cod became an important, inexpensive, long-lasting protein in Jamaica during the colonial era. The pairing of imported saltfish with locally grown ackee became a defining Jamaican food tradition. The dish is sometimes confused with other Caribbean saltfish meals, but its national association is specifically Jamaican.