Probably native to the Malay Archipelago, breadfruit either drifted on the sea or was carried by early peoples to the Pacific Islands well before written history. The plant has been cultivated there for thousands of years. Breadfruits were traditionally baked with hot stones in pits dug into the ground. The wood of the trees-which grew as high as 60 feet-was also used for canoes, and the bark was made into cloth on Guam and the islands of Samoa. In Hawaii the wood was prized for making drums and surfboards.

In the 1700's the British began to establish breadfruit crops in the West Indies, as a staple with which to feed the African slaves who worked the huge sugar plantations.

Eaten before it is ripe, breadfruit evidently does indeed not only taste like fresh bread, but feels like it, to the touch. A starchy staple of the Caribbean and Pacific islands, breadfruit is fried, baked, boiled, and sometimes mixed with coconut milk to make a pudding.