Another great breakfast

My wife surprised me Saturday morning by preparing one of my favorites, ackee and saltfish, the Jamaican breakfast we usually have on Sundays. I'll probably eat the leftovers today.

The dish mixes salty, spicy and bland flavors, and different textures, and gives you another opportunity to eat fish in the morning. We buy the ackee, a fruit, in a can, but many Jamaicans hide frozen fresh ackee in their luggage when they return from the island. I have seen ackee compared to scrambled eggs in appearance, but it actually looks like brain matter. The price for canned ackee skyrocketed a few years ago after a hurricane and today, a 19-ounce can costs more than $10.

The bland ackee and salty codfish bits are sauteed in vegetable oil with onion, sweet and hot peppers and tomato. They are served with green bananas that have been boiled to the point where you can easily mash them with a fork. I douse my food with Valentina, a Mexican hot sauce, and like to stuff warm pita halves with ackee, saltfish and banana. A great, stick-to-your ribs breakfast.

Later Sunday -- For breakfast today, I took some of the leftover ackee and saltfish and folded it into a plain omelet, plating it with boiled green bananas and half of a leftover baked potato.