Thai name: Khanun
Season: January to May
The jackfruit is the shape of a large melon. The fruit has a grey skin, and contains a great number of pips or kernels which are about the size of a pigeon's egg. These, when roasted, taste like chestnuts. The fruit is yellow and succulent, of a sweet taste and powerful smell. Thus wrote Simon de la Loubere, a French visitor to Thailand in the 17th century, and his description of the popular jackfruit still holds true. Thais eat the yellow flesh alone, with ice cream or mixed with other fruits and coconut milk in a compote. The cooked seeds find their way into many dishes.
In 1681 or 1682, the Siamese king Narai, who was seeking to reduce Dutch and English influence, named Governor of Phuket the French medical missionary Brother Ren Charbonneau, a member of the Siam mission of the Soci des Missions Etrangres. Charbonneau held the position of Governor until 1685.