Soon Forgotten - Fruit, Seed, & Spice

Say What! Cuyah! Stinking Toe, Nickel and Annato some unique Jamaican fruit, seed, and spice never to forget.

Photography by Jermaine Cowan

Allow me to indulge your curiosity to discover the unforgettable Stinking Toe paradox, the child play heat of Nickel seeds and the versatility of the Annatto spice.

Stinking Toe Paradox

Photography by Jermaine Cowan

"Stinking Toe does smell cheesy but tastes like a good home cook meal when your mom put her foot in it. "

As a child, I was a little scared to eat Stinking Toe. This was because children always teased each other about the possibility of choking on it and eating cow dung as the only way to stop the choking. Vendors could be seen on the street to my primary school and in the markets selling Stinking Toe. When we cracked the pod open, we would be greeted by an objectionable odour and a dry solid yellow powdery seed with a uniquely delightful flavor. I guess it was because of this powdery dryness, as kids we joked about choking on it, and the unthinkable remedy of eating dung. My mom's juicing recipe was one of my favorite memories of enjoying this fruit. Stinking Toe does smell cheesy but tastes like a good home cook meal when your mom put her foot in it.

Nickel Heat

Photography by Jermaine Cowan

"We used it to burn each other’s hand. Cruel? Not really, we were just having fun."

Nickel is a different kind of seed yellow, green or dark gray, oval shaped hard-shell with a small brown spot. It grows in a pod on the Nickel Tree. I have never eaten Nickel. However, I have found that if grounded it may be used like coffee beans to make a warm beverage or as we would say in Jamaica “Tea.” As children, we would rub the small brown section on the ground until it became hot. Somehow this little seed retained the heat generated by rubbing it on the ground. We used it to burn each other’s hand. Cruel? Not really, we were just having fun, it did not create an injurious burn in anyway.

Annatto Versatile

Photography by Jermaine Cowan

"Rub them on our lips and cheeks making our own colourful blush and lipstick."

During visits to my grandfather’s farm I discovered the seeds of the Annatto/Achiote Tree. We used this spice to add a conspicuous red-orange colour and a tantalizing flavour to rice or meat dishes. The Annatto spice is a great organic substitute for food colouring. As children we would wet the seeds, crush them and rub them on our lips and cheeks making our own colourful blush and lipstick.

I would like to hear your stories or comments about Stinking Toe, Nickel, Annatto or any other unique fruits, herbs, and spice from your childhood that you would like to pass on to the next generations, not to be forgotten “Nuh Figet.”