Remember the jackfruit season of the past

Now jackfruit is available all year round. It is even rarer to see the whole family eagerly gathering around to watch mom cut a jackfruit. In the summer, markets and supermarkets are full of all kinds of fruit: mango, jackfruit, plum, pineapple, sapodilla, mangosteen, durian... Many times, walking back and forth between fruit stalls, I don't know which one to choose because they are all delicious. A row of jackfruit, sweet and fragrant in one corner of the market. The jackfruit is already cut, each segment is plump, golden, full of nectar, just looking at it makes me crave it. I bought a piece of jackfruit for forty thousand dong for the whole family to eat.

I remember the old days, at the beginning of the jackfruit season, my aunt brought my mother jackfruit to the city. The first ripe jackfruit of the season was not big, the thorns did not bloom evenly, although heavy, when tapped it made a thumping sound but was a bit dented. Knowing that my mother liked to eat jackfruit from her own garden, my aunt brought it out for her to call it a bit of the countryside. The children eagerly waited for their grandmother to cut the jackfruit. One spread out newspaper on the floor, another held a stack of newspaper waiting for their grandmother to cut the jackfruit and wipe off the sap as she cut it, one even thoughtfully prepared a rag dipped in a little kerosene for their grandmother to wipe her hands and knife from the sap. Looking at the eager eyes of the grandchildren focused on the cutting path of their grandmother, I knew that my aunt had thought of this scene to bring out a gift from her hometown that cost more than it cost!

The jackfruit is not very tasty. The coconut jackfruit has thick segments, although crunchy, it is not very sweet. The children were excited at first, but after a few segments they got bored. My mother had the opportunity to tell an old story: "This jackfruit tree is the same age as your mother. The day your grandfather planted the jackfruit tree, your mother was in her belly, kicking and wanting to come out." I sat there with my mother, peeling off each segment, removing the seeds, and arranging them in a box in the refrigerator. It was not tasty, going in and out, opening and closing the refrigerator door a few times, and grabbing a few pieces, it was all gone.

When the segments were gone, the children were very meticulous. My youngest daughter picked up the jackfruit seeds and put them in a small basket. She said: “Grandma, boil them for me to eat. I really like jackfruit seeds!” The whole family was a bit surprised! At that time, I had never boiled jackfruit seeds for my children to eat. Whenever I craved them, I would just buy a bite-sized piece, which didn’t have many seeds. After peeling the segments, I would throw the rest in the trash. My mother asked her with emotion: “When did you ever eat jackfruit seeds that you knew they were delicious?” “The other day, Xi gave me a boiled jackfruit seed. It was delicious!”

Hearing you say that makes me sad! In the flow of time, I have inadvertently forgotten those tiny jackfruit seeds that contain a whole sky of childhood, poor but happy, lacking in material things but full of spirit. A few jackfruit seeds roasted in hot coals, my siblings fought over to eat, sometimes leading to beatings. In the afternoon, when I woke up, I saw a basket of boiled jackfruit seeds that my mother had left on the table with a jar of sugar, as happy as if I had found gold. But now, among the myriad of cakes…, my child craves boiled jackfruit seeds.

When my mother heard that her grandchild was craving jackfruit seeds, she quickly went to wash them and boiled a pot for her grandchild. She even took the trouble to go to the store and buy a packet of large-grained brown sugar so that her grandchild could eat it with the old taste! While peeling the jackfruit seeds for her grandchild, my mother told a story from the past: “In the poor times, we ate the whole jackfruit without throwing away anything. Jackfruit seeds could be stewed with fish sauce or fat; jackfruit fibers could be stewed with fish…”

My mother could tell me all day about the jackfruit seasons of her childhood. I also had very peaceful jackfruit seasons like that. Jackfruit season is closely associated with everyone’s childhood. Jackfruit season is the season of students, the season of royal poinciana, the sound of cicadas, the season of chirping… How I miss the seasons of ripe jackfruit, the fragrant, golden jackfruit segments, full of sweet honey in my memory…

KIM DUY

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/sang-tac/202409/nho-mua-mit-ngay-xua-dbc42c4/