The Caribbean Dictionary

ackee
2 definitions
121
Noun
Blighia sapida; A fruit of the soapberry family native to West Africa that was introduced to the Caribbean. It is the national fruit of Jamaica, and features prominently in Jamaican cuisine where it is an ingredient in the the national dish 'ackee and saltfish'. The fruit changes in colour from yellowish-green to a reddish orange as it matures. When ripe, the pods open to reveal two to three fleshy white or cream coloured arils. The arils are the only edible part of the fruit. The fruit must be allowed to open fully before harvesting as unripe and unopened fruit is poisonous and may cause ackee poisoning or Jamaican Vomiting Sickness (toxic hypoglycemic syndrome).
Synonyms
huevo vegetal
Pictures
ackeeackeeackeeackeeackeeackee
Noun
Ovoid green fruit that grows in bunches on trees up to 30m high. The fruit typically ripen during the summer. The fruit is related to the lychee and have tight, thin but rigid skins. Inside the skin is the tart, tangy, or sweet pulp of the fruit covering a large seed. The pulp is usually cream or orange coloured.
Tags
plant, fruit, food
Pictures
ackeeackeeackeeackee
heretic Mar 01, 2008
We don't play ackee, we eat ackee.
butu Mar 01, 2008
heeediat, is "we don't play hockey, we heat hockey"
antonym Mar 26, 2008
How dem fi call guinep ackee?? Blaspheme I say... Blasssspheeeeeeme!!!
mskillz Nov 11, 2010
lol hahahaha seriously still 
anonymous Feb 10, 2011
que significa la expresin "dutty sketel"
anonymous Feb 14, 2011
"dutty sketel" is puta sucia
LoveTheVoiceWithin Feb 24, 2011
mmhhh wow beautiful fruit ^-^
Jamdude Oct 04, 2011
Guinep and ackee are not the same, the isands that called guinep ackee dont av a sense.
Peace&Love Oct 09, 2012
^^^You don't have any sense. You need to learn to respect people culture. Wunna one not the only culture. Don't be a Bigot. Open your eyes and EXPAND your mind.
shelly Nov 13, 2012
Wow..I was surprised to see that other countries in the Caribbean refer to what we Jamaicans call guinep as ackee...
basil Nov 13, 2012
Why are Jamaicans always shocked and surprised to see that they don't have the monopoly on Caribbean words?
Tanya Nov 13, 2012
I love that different islands call fruits by different names. Some say ackee, others say guinep. Diversity mi seh!
jonas Nov 15, 2012
wait til yu fine out wha di trini dem call toto
Ackees Apr 02, 2013
In d republic of panama we call this fruit quenepas but Barbados Ackees live and learn I don't get it.
triniadi Apr 07, 2013
the pics they have before this page as ackee is what we trinis call chenet the other pics however are of real ackee
bajangirl Aug 31, 2013
We have always called it ackee.
Gabrielle Oct 31, 2013
:/ Allyuh Chenet and Ackee are two different things.
Adam Nov 26, 2013
@Bajangirl, you really call guinep, skinup, chenet.... ackee? Someone please verify.
Ryguy Dec 01, 2013
Yes in Barbados we call ackee what y'all call guinep!!! Just like Jamaicans say "unnu" to mean y'all, we Bajans say "wunna" to mean y'all.
Drwattsy Dec 23, 2013
What is toto in Trini?
jo Jan 26, 2014
In Trinidad we call it chennete and akee is yellow with black seeds
jade Apr 25, 2014
jamaica did not invent guinep or ackee. Every country has their own language. Ackee, guinep whatever can be called shit for all I care. Its from the earth not yours.
767 May 20, 2014
In Dominica we call this kenip
Luluh Jun 10, 2014
LOL!! its ok, we're all island people, which is a blessing being that we are free. Thank God for our ancestors landing where they did. We are more than fortunate we get to call "our foods" whatever. I love it when I get to go home and pick ackee, guinep, june plum, and mango from the trees and EAT THEM!! Everyone, just respect each other, eat "your" food and enjoy... One Love!
smh Jun 14, 2014
really stupid people here, we not tied to jamaica so call it what we like. saint lucia doesn't really deal with what jamaicans call "ackee". It's not our culture.
Hands Jul 05, 2014
We call this genip in St. John. Ackee a whole udder ting.
me Sep 02, 2014
I love ackee and salt fish
Chenette Nov 06, 2014
In St.Lucia this fruit is commonly referred to as ackee and occasionally as chenet (which many people assume is the creole word for the fruit) however St.Lucians refering to the fruit as ackee does not mean that we are not aware of the Jamaican ackee (which is grown in st.lucia as well). It's all about island heritage
h Jan 03, 2015
The jamaican usage of the word is the original usage. The word comes from akan language of ghana from the word akye which is their name for the fruit.also unu is from igbo unu jamaicans say it exactly like how igbos say it, that's so cool
meika Jan 05, 2015
Ackee is wonderful with saltfish or even chicken so to all the people who don't eat I you are missing out on haven. it is a delightful treat
BajanAllDay Mar 05, 2015
Schupse! All de talk, I like ackee (Barbados) real bad! It too sweet.
Joy May 05, 2015
I am confused.... why are two different fruits pictured? I left Dominica as a young child, but the green skin fruit pictured I remember calling it Kenips and the reddish/pinkish skin fruit I only learned about it after moving to Miami and it was referred to by Dominican family friends as Ackee.... so its not a debate about who calls it what, but rather what exactly the debate is about....
Maebella Gabriella May 30, 2015
Because it's a common name for both fruits....as s child I knew the bottom (green deliciousness) as ackee. It wasn't until I got older I realised that Jamaicans called the top pic the same thing (which they cook with saltfish, not one if my favs but who can turn down saltfish??) ...
Vincy Jul 10, 2015
We call it both ackee and guniep!We know what Jamaican ackee is!
orlando satchell Jul 26, 2015
Living in st lucia as jamicam born mother , my self born in the Uk , but a chef in st lucia, , how do we show case the cusine of the Caribbean if we can not call the ingredients the correct names , it's one thing to respect a countrs view point , however if it's call guinep or quenepa , why should you call other name like ackee , the national fruit of other island ?so where did it come from
triniboi Jul 30, 2015
Unbelievable that so many cannot accept that different cultures call things by differently. The so called "correct names" are those in the scientific classifications. Other than that its a fruit called differently by different cultures. Same as "money". Is it dollar, lira, peso, rupee, pound, renminbi, euro, franc (one for almost every letter of the alphabet), or is it all of the above?
Trinigal Aug 03, 2015
If Bajana call Chenet/ guinep 'akee', what do they call Akee? Jamaican Akee? And if Chenet/ guinep is related to the Lychee, did it come from China? Maybe an Englishman mislabeled a cargo of Chenet\ guinep when it landed in Barbados a couple of hundred years ago..? (No disrespect intended)
Trinigal Aug 03, 2015
It is one thing to call a fruit or tree by different names according to culture, for example Melongene, aubergine, eggplant...but to call it the name of a completely different fruit (imagine Mango for Melongene!) is somewhat confusing to say the least. But so be it. It is what it is :)
Nathalie Aug 06, 2015
I'm Haitian-American, grew up in Miami. I have a Trini best friend and a Jamaican best friend. The green fruit I've only know it to be called either lychee or kinip. Akee is the other fruit that has the black seeds.... So freakin' good, but poisonous if eaten before it's ready. I've never heard the name to be used to describe one fruit, but it's good to know.
Jade Aug 23, 2015
To those wondering what us Bajans call "Jamaican ackee", we doan call it anything because it doesn't grow here, we never really need to refer to it.
gerty Aug 23, 2015
Den how unnu mek ackee and saltfish?
Jade Aug 29, 2015
We doan mek ackee and saltfish, that isn't a dish here
gerty Aug 29, 2015
Wow. That's no way to live. How very sad....
lee Sep 05, 2015
Any Cape students here
ackee Sep 16, 2015
We ackeee good
cynthia Sep 20, 2015
I think that we should exchange plants... That would be a splendid idea.
cynthia Sep 20, 2015
I think that we should exchange plants... That would be a splendid idea.
Daniel Sep 24, 2015
i love this fruit.Ghanaians also call it Ackee.how can i juice it for the purpose of milk?
Ysrael Oct 16, 2015
This is funny because I'm in Cuba and I never see that fruit before in my life I see it for the first time on my neighbor's backyard ,she is Jamaican
Kim Nov 04, 2015
Yes, CAPE student here @ lee
Jaden mohan Nov 10, 2015
I love fish
urballiss Nov 10, 2015
The only right name is the origin name from africa, everyone else chill out..
elizabeth Dec 06, 2015
Its dosnt matter ,called it whatever in your country just eat and be happy
maria Dec 27, 2015
ackee and saltfish married thats wat mek it so nice
Andi Dec 28, 2015
Research shows that both Bajan ackee and Jamaican ackee are related. Traditionally Bajans were afraid of Jamaican ackee because all we knew was that it is poisonous; however in recent times and with increasing travel, many Bajans have come to love and eat Jamaican ackee, with many having trees in their yards. We differentiate by saying "Jamaican ackee" as opposed to "ackee".
Andi Dec 28, 2015
Many "naturalists" even eat the "raw" fruit. It has a nutty taste somewhat like a cross between a cashew and avocado and very much like the seed of the Bajan ackee. Are there any other recipes for ackee other than "ackee and saltfish"
Trelswny Jan 18, 2016
I love ackee
Khadigah Jan 22, 2016
I love ackee
Ana Jan 22, 2016
I love loom bands
Bobzy Jan 30, 2016
Please remember that ackee, when forced open is highly poisonous as it contains deadly levels of the toxin hypoglycin. DO NOT force open an ackee pod, but rather allow the pods to naturally open on their own.
Adyambo Feb 02, 2016
I must say I had fun going through the different names, I knew about guineps being called ackee from a Lucian friend at UWI, but what got me were all the other names given to guineps by the different islands skinep was my favourite though. peace all food is good to eat, just make sure you see a picture on the menu before ordering. cats look like rabbits and everything taste like chicken dwl
IsabeldeCaracas Feb 16, 2016
Aki y bacalao; mamon o quenepas
Barb Mar 21, 2016
There is no Jamaican flag represented for the 'ackee'. That is the name known by the other islands whose flags are shown
Marie-Celia Mar 24, 2016
Today, despite showing a Jamaican friend that the fruit is called different names by fifferent islands, she still kept arguing that every other name for what we call ackee is wrong. As Barb said above, we should respect other people's culture. I could not deny or argue a fact , do I allowed my friend to think she was a winner. There was anither Jamaican friend who just smiled!
Gregory Apr 18, 2016
The fruit shown in the picture is actually chenet.
Abstrak268 May 03, 2016
Omg these comments smh. Anyone calling the small green fruit w. thin/rough skin and creamy, fleshy insides ackee when everyone knows that the red fruit w. black seeds and yellow inside is ackee is deliberate. I not go call u what you're deliberately being but u deliberate.
Indy May 27, 2016
genip! delicious.
jules Jun 28, 2016
In St.lucia we have both fruits that are depicted above, how ever we recognize the first photo as Jamaican ackee and the second photo as ackee or chenet .if you are St .lucian and someone ask you for ackkee you will bring them the fruit depicted in the second photo and if you want the fruit in the first photo you will have to specify Jamaican ackee .right or wrong is relative to your nationalit
Tanya Jul 07, 2016
We call the green ones limoncillos. I have not seen a key here and am not sure that is eaten.
Alistair Aug 01, 2016
The picture shown above is a readily available fruit relating to the 'Soapberry family' which is used to bulk out scant and meagre food rations in impoverished nations in the western Caribbean, therefore not common to the remaining thirty-five remaining nations of the Caribbean. The fruit itself has been long associated with pure ignorance and verbal diarrhea, hence purged from Barbados in 1731.
Jessica Aug 27, 2016
ackee and saltfish is my favorite dish
ashanti Sep 21, 2016
mmmmmmmmmmm
Rabbon-I Oct 16, 2016
We murder guinep in Guyana. Nuff variety of fruit trees grow here.
Cristi Oct 21, 2016
what do u call ackee in the usa
kamena Oct 31, 2016
in Guyana we called it guinep
Jami Nov 02, 2016
I ate Ackee! It didn't taste very good:(. (America)
Dee Nov 05, 2016
I'm from the USA. I have never seen the fruit at the top before. However, if I came across it I would most likely use the word that someone told me. Most of the time if we don't know the word for something we adopt the word used by the original language we learned it from but if it's origin is known we would use the word of origin. The fruit on the bottom I have seen and we call it Lychee.
kp Dec 27, 2016
Why is Chenet/Guinep on the same page with Ackee? This has to be an error that the owner of this site is unaware they made. Anyone from the Caribbean knows they ae separate fruits. I hope they fix this soon.
Theo Jan 11, 2017
Mmm, it's a war of words lol.Everyone has a right to call it what they may wish to! It's just the same old rivalry thing.
Patti Jan 23, 2017
Are bananas figs or is fig a nick name for banana in the west and officially a fig is an actual fruit native of Israel ( what is soccer and is it football ) what comes first the chicken or the eggs
dan Jan 28, 2017
ackeeisackee guinep isguinep
Kay Apr 22, 2017
I love my Keneps !!!!!😉
Kay Apr 22, 2017
.
Parker May 07, 2017
ACKEE IS GOOD!!!!!!
Nipsy May 15, 2017
Wunna can argue 'bout this for a very long time. In Barbados growing up, we only had Ackee trees (second pic what Jamaicans call guinep). I have never seen a (Jamaican Ackee) tree. Ppl travelling all over and some have planted this (Jamaican ackee) tree I understand, but still have not seen it on the island yet. My husband Jamaican and I Bajan and we laugh at the different names we call things.
IslandRiches May 17, 2017
I love you Caribbean ppl
Issah Jun 07, 2017
We had it in Ghana and I have eat it before, but I don't know the English name for it. But in my native language(dagbani) we call it #KPEHILAANI.
Island girl Jun 24, 2017
I have never been to a Caribbean store and seen these called ackee. Guinep is guinep and ackee is ackee. If mi ask fi guinep dem go show mi di roun green sitten pah branch. Mi av big guinep tree wah mi naybel tring plant anda dung a yawd. Guh nyam ackee raw den nuh an si wah yuh get. Bout name nuh mean nutten. Kmt
Omgwana Kikbuti Jun 24, 2017
I am from the US and while it is very hard to find Jamaican ackee (the top photos) here, it is completely impossible to find chenet/guinep (the bottom photos). I LOVE ackee and saltfish with rice...it is my main meal every time I go to Jamaica and I eat it as often as I can while I am there.
Dan Jul 04, 2017
Lol Jamaicans
Jennifer Aug 05, 2017
I'm a Jamaican someone asked if ackee can prepare yes it can saltmackerel and ackee red herring and ackee but anything it's prepared with ackee & saltfish is nicer let's respect other people for their culture and whatever they want the fruits One Love Jamaican Style
Genip, ackee, chenet Aug 22, 2017
I live in the V.I., but was born in St. Lucia. When I'm in St. Lucia i say ackee for the thin skin green fruit when speaking English. I say Chenet when speaking french patois (French creole). When in the V.I. I say Genip as it is called here. I am aware of the Jamaican ackee, but it's not common around here. The scientific name for the green thin skin fruit is Genip. Respect all cultures.
Dean Sep 24, 2017
Ackee ( look like scrambled egg yolk) and salt fish.... Jamaica's natinal dish. Guinep green marblelike sweet and pulpy....a we dat!!
Nilip Sep 30, 2017
Ackee- fruit, hard green skin, orange flesh when rip
Ayesha Oct 25, 2017
All of you are idiots who don't come from Jamaica. All of my Jamaican friends laugh please
Artyst Feb 07, 2018
So this is what happens when a bunch of Caribbean people end up in a chat... Interesting.
ELLY EL Jun 22, 2018
BELIZEAN CALL AM KINEP , HMMMM
Ackee Jul 25, 2018
Why are the Jamaicans being ignorant. Different islands call it different things especially since the Jamaican ackee is not really popular anywhere else but jaimaca. The second pic is ackee period. Y'all laughing at people calling the green fruit ackee but out here calling what all other islands call golden apple/pommecyterre june plum and calling sugar apple sweetsop lol. Y'all the dumb ones.
Ingie Oct 05, 2018
We call lots of stuff by diffrent names in the caribbean .Lets just respect each other no island hold the rights so all others have to call it what they do.To me its Ackee with the green skin
Vincina Oct 16, 2018
Guinep is not ackee...maybe that was a mistake..I love guinep
Trinbagonian Nov 06, 2018
Someone wanted to know what is toto?simple a penis.
superdashgmer562 Nov 13, 2018
hi trinbagonian your disgusting
da boss Nov 16, 2018
we have ackee in belize to it's just not a big thing
IntlFam Jan 01, 2019
Guinep in Colombia is called mamoncillo...Ackee is in Colombia too but I don't know what it's called since I never met anyone who eats it there. By the way toto means female genitals in DR so the opposite of what it means in TnT!
Paige Feb 13, 2019
No one in the Bahamas calls this ackee, it is known as guinep. Ackee is a fruit that's red
David Aug 16, 2019
Listen, what's the big issue about a name? Jamaicans call the green fruit Guineps, Barbadians say ackee. The green fruit is also called Spanish limes so much ado about nothing. What needs to stop though is the personal feelings and the little side words aimed at disrespecting each other. Get over it and enjoy u ackee guinep Spanish lime Chenet, kenip or whatever you call it.
David Aug 16, 2019
Bulla in Barbados is gay....jamaicans eat bulla which is a pastry. We live fish and jamaicans call gay people fish also. We need to accept other cultures because we are all right and all wrong at the same time.
Jay Nov 08, 2019
A ten year debate. Woah! I am so going to read through this all!!!!!
sosandra kisha Nov 12, 2019
wow
Fat Pussy Feb 01, 2020
The first pic is what Jamaicans call "Ackee" but Guyanese call it "Buck cashew" and the second pic is what we call Guinep/ginep in GT ✌
Dizzy Apr 24, 2020
In Trinidad we call the fruit with the green skin Chennet......I've never seen an Akee fruit in my life or eaten it. I've also never seen an Akee tree in Trinidad, from my knowledge, we don't have it here unless we import it. I'd love to taste it though :)
Mweh mem May 13, 2020
Dominicans does say kennip idk where allu come out and get ackee and put Dominica by it
Biscuit not Cracka Jul 01, 2020
In the Bahamas we call this GUINEP not ackee
Anonymus Nov 09, 2020
How uno fi call guinep ackee.Uno muss mad.
Clemkonan May 29, 2021
Nice to see that even after being dispersed through the islands ( landfall was usually Barbados) and into the 13 colonies we have retained the food and remnants of the language of the motherland. Dont be distracted, respect our individual islands and culture dont let the waters that divide us divide us as a people. As a remnant forcefully torn out of the motherland we are unique.
MC Jul 08, 2021
Soms of you are right to say that they are not the same.. because they are not.. on the ABC islands we have kenepa (guinep) only.. and no ackee .
Ngoma Bishop Aug 08, 2021
As long as it's safe, healthy and you like it - eat it no matter what you call it. Be careful though if ordering food when not at home because different people might call the same thing something different. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
Josh Sep 13, 2021
I love jamaica
Alyssa Jul 07, 2022
I call it kinip
Dee Nov 06, 2022
Hubby is Jamaican. Looked at fruit and named them. Had a good laugh at each island's name. Golden Apple aka June Plum, Sugar Apple aka Sweet Sop. Dounce aka Coolie Plum. He said Bajans "sing" when we talk and mimicked me, I said Jamaicans can't say "Hs" (H)ouse. Ordered a chicken roti. Got Curry and skin on side. I said No, want it wrapped. Trini said you didn't order that. When in Rome...
TP Aug 26, 2023
Is it really so hard to accept that different countries use different names for a fruit, or the same name for different fruits. If I told you the difference was the result of a colonizer being introduced to a fruit on one island then going to another island and misidentifying it would that make you stop fighting each other?
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