so . . .I did something kinda crazy last week. I made A LOT of food. About a month ago Boz asked me to handle food for an upcoming event. I had a budget of 300 dolalrs and needed to feed 200 people a combination of vegan and non vegan food. OF course I wanted to go all vegan but I got help to deal with the non-vegan side of things. While I turned 50 pounds of potatoes into 65 lbs of potato salad and 45 pounds of cabbage into 50 pounds of cole slaw Hani and Marie handled BBQ chicken (eww right, huge thanks for them dealing with it). Of course I wanted there to be a comparable vegan choice so I went with the classic BBQ jack Fruit.
Considering how delicious and simple it is to make this dish I am always amazed that people do not know about it. First question is always "jack fruit? what is that?" Well Ill tell you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit
or rather I will let Wiki tell you (please donate). The cool part is this fruit has been eaten in India for over 6000 years, and it is just like I always say . . .you want a new idea look at the oldest vegetarian group on the planet! Fortunately we can take this fruit and give it an american twist. The hard part is often finding a good source of jack Fruit. For last weeks meal I completely bought out the Asian market here in Davis, which is where you can often find canned jack fruit. If you go with fresh jack fruit you need to soak it in water over night (or longer) to reduce the sweet/fruity flavor. Getting from the can is way easier.
Preparation is pretty much boiling the fruit in flavor water. I use a combination of vegetable stock, garlic and onions. The secret for getting the BBQ into it is a touch of liquid smoke . . . and oh man how have I never cooked with liquid smoke before? You knwo that smell that people associate with barbecued whatever? well it isnt the meat, it isnt the marinade, it isnt the grill it is the smoke! liquid smoke adds that woodsy taste that you get in your nostrils and keep craving. It is also what turns ketchup into barbecue sauce (more or less).
The cole slaw and potato salad were pretty challenging and in the amount of time I had I didnt manage to take many photos. Some day soon I might have enough time to actually document what I am doing again.
Also a big thank you to Brad and Diana who helped plate food for 100 hungry climbers and the dozens of spectators at the Competition.
