A few weekends ago, a group of us went hiking in Makiki Heights. Toward the end of the trail, there were some banana and breadfruit ('ulu) trees. Unfortunately, much of the fruit was not ready to be picked or had been picked earlier by hungry hikers. Those trees made me so 'ono for 'ulu, we went to Tamashiro Market. While I was standing in the aisle holding my prized 'ulu, a Samoan customer, with an astonished expression, asked me: "You eat 'ulu?"

'Ulu is believed to have been one of the few subsistence plants the Polynesians brought with them to Hawai'i. But breadfruit never became the staple here that it is in the South Pacific. Taro served that purpose. Hawaiians found other uses for breadfruit trees.

A member of the fig family, breadfruit (Artocarpis altilis) is believed to have originated on Java. From there, voyagers took it to Malaysia, then on to the Marquesas, from where it spread to the rest of Polynesia. By the 18th century, 'ulu's "super-food" reputation spread throughout the British colonies.

Here's an interesting side note: In 1787, Capt. William Bligh and his Bounty set sail to Tahiti and gathered more than 1,000 breadfruit starter plants to bring back to the West Indies. These plants required more than their fair share of the water, and Bligh reduced the ration for his crew. His men set Bligh, a few loyalists and the breadfruit plants adrift in a small boat. But Bligh and his men survived, and the rest is history.

Breadfruit packs as much calcium and carbohydrates as taro, and more than the sweet potato, and has more potassium than bananas. One-quarter of a small fruit fills the day's quota of vitamin C. Eaten as a staple, it adds significant thiamine, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate and magnesium to the diet with almost no fat. It's no wonder Samoans love it.

FO' REAL BREAD PUDDING