Akee, Ackee

[Merna]

Tropical fruit, native to Africa, commonly eaten in Jamaica with salt cod. The cherry-size fruit, slightly oval in shape, has a flavor similar to grapes, and looks like scrambled eggs when cooked. Certain parts of the fruit are toxic when underripe so it is important to identify the stage of maturity before using this fresh fruit, but canned akee is safe. Also known as genipa, genip, ginup, honeyberry, limoncillo, Spanish lime and mamoncillo.