Elsa,

Here’s some good info from:
http://www.deliciousorganics.com/recipes/exoticfruit.htm

Jackfruit is the largest fruit on the planet reaching up to 100 pounds! It is in the same family as the breadfruit and the fig.
How To Tell if it’s Ripe: It has a prickly exterior that is green or greenish yellow once ripe. When ripening it can have a strong smell, some describe it as rotten onions so a good whiff will tell you when it’s ripe, but you might have to get very close to smell it and those prickles are sharp so be careful! Once cut open, that bad smell goes away and a sweet tropical fragrance of pineapples, bananas and “juicy-fruit” emanates from the golden to orange colored fruit.

How to Use It: Practically all parts of the Jackfruit can be eaten! The pulp of the Jackfruit can be eaten raw as a fruit once ripe or cooked as a vegetable when unripe. Once cut, a sticky latex substance is present that can stain your clothes and stick to everything so wear latex gloves and an apron. You may also want to have oil for the knife so the latex doesn’t stick all over it too. First Cut it in 1/2 crosswise, then cut out the hard center core. You’ll note the bulbs of fruit amidst a sea of seeds which are easily separated. The seeds are easier to remove when cut crosswise. The meat is thick, firm, and sweet. It will continue to ripen even after being opened. Once separated from the skin and the seeds, wash and dry the fruit. Since they are so big, it’s nice to know that you can store the fruit in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a year (though, the texture may change so it’s best to eat it fresh if eating it as a snack or in salads.)

Fresh ripe Jackfruit can be eaten as a snack, added it to fruit salads, smoothies, used it to flavor popsicles, desserts, and ice cream (try these recipes.) Sometimes it is soaked and boiled in milk or coconut milk and then the fruit is removed leaving a custard (from the gooey latex-like substance) of pretty orange-salmon color and a pleasant flavor.

The (50-500 starchy) seeds called breadnuts in each Jackfruit can also be eaten and are nutritious being high in calcium and a good source of protein. They can be boiled for 5 minutes and then roasted. Then eat them like chestnuts or cut them up and add them to stews, tomato sauce, or curries. In Thailand, the seeds are pounded into a flour.

When unripe, the Jackfruit can be cut in slices crosswise and boiled in salted water with the seeds still intact. Then the meat is separated from the skin and the seeds, and the meat and seeds can be eaten.

Traditionally, recipes (or try or these recipes or these recipes) using Jackfruit as a vegetable mix it with coconut milk or rice or fish, in soups or stews. It is commonly used in Indian and Asian cuisine. You can find Jackfruit canned in sugar syrup, which is the traditional way of preserving it, or frozen usually at an Asian or Indian Grocery Store. For more details and pictures on how to cut and use a Jackfruit see: http://www.fairchildgarden.org/research/jackfruit_how-to-use.html

Jackfruit can also be fried into chips, candied, pickled, dried, or fermented and distilled into a liquor. The rind is used to make jelly and can be pickled. I even saw recipes using the leaves!

Nutrition: Low in fat and a good source of Vitamin C and Manganese. The seeds are even more nutritious offering calcium and protein.

I love these as chips (Thanks for reminding me they’re in my pantry!).