I’ve never really cared for the beach. But now, as I bathe in the fluorescent glow of a Microsoft Surface here in rain-sloshed Indianapolis, getting brutally sunburnt on a tourist-riddled beach somewhere in Florida doesn’t sound so bad.

As Indy-area families head south for spring break, I got a much smaller taste of the tropics in this week’s INdulge with:

The best thing I ate in Indy this week

With nothing but admiration for the esteemed Captain Morgan, I suspect the highlighter-colored rum cocktails associated with Caribbean culture have misled Americans as to how simple the region’s cuisine can be. Take the national dish of Jamaica, ackee and saltfish, which you can find at Jamaican Breeze just south of Fall Creek on Keystone Avenue.

Previously in INdulge: In honor of March Madness, best thing I ate in Indy this week was a big sandwich

Ackee is a nutty-tasting, fist-sized fruit native to West Africa in the same family as lychee. While its seeds have small outgrowths that can be poisonous when consumed raw, cooked ackee is no more toxic than, say, scrambled eggs, to which it bears a striking resemblance. Sautéed with onions, bell peppers and scotch bonnet peppers, ackee looks uncannily like a Southwest scramble that would cost $14 at an especially Instagram-friendly brunch spot.

Saltfish, meanwhile, is exactly what it sounds like. Slivers of generously salted cod add some chew and a little funk to the ackee, creating a salty-savory mash whose flavor profile isn’t far from certain American comfort foods. Turns out garlic, onion and thyme play just as well in island cuisine as they do in your grandmother’s pot roast.

Jamaican Breeze’s ackee and saltfish ($17.95) comes with a similarly seasoned portion of rice and “peas” (what most Americans know as kidney beans), shreds of steamed cabbage and a pair of sugar-sweet fried plantains.

Previously in INdulge: Lenten fish fry at popular Mass Ave spot was best thing I ate this week

Like many staple Caribbean dishes, ackee and saltfish is a direct result of the Atlantic slave trade. Ackee most likely arrived in English-controlled Jamaica during the 1700s, crossing the same waters that brought millions of enslaved Africans to the Americas. Ackee flourished in the island’s tropical climate and has been a staple food ever since.

Meanwhile, English slave owners imported Canadian cod preserved in salt as a cheap, long-lasting food source for their ill-gotten labor force. The two foods eventually met in kitchens across Jamaica with the mild ackee, almost more vegetable than fruit, making a natural pairing for the sea-flavored cod.

Reconciling ackee and saltfish’s grisly origins with the modern dish is tricky. Such is often the case with culinary tradition, as countless now-iconic dishes began with just a few basic ingredients, a little ingenuity and at least one historical atrocity. But like many groups of people who have known great suffering, Jamaicans eventually reclaimed ackee and saltfish, and many now view the dish as a source of national pride.

Though the meal’s significance may not fully translate to Hoosiers 1,500 miles away, it’s still worth trying. Besides, if, like me, you haven’t been getting a ton of vitamin D from the supposedly still-extant sun lately, you might as well throw a little tropical flavor in your diet.

Really, it’s like I can feel the ocean breeze from here — all 52 sopping-wet degrees of it.

What: Ackee and saltfish, $17.95 (can only be ordered in-restaurant for dine-in or takeout)

Where: Jamaican Breeze Sports Bar and Grill, 4189 N. Keystone Ave., 317-426-4045, jamaicanbreezeindy.com

In case that’s not your thing: Jamaican Breeze’s menu offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy familiar flavors or try something new, from jerk chicken quarters ($9.95) to curry goat ($14.50). While meat options span red snapper filets ($23.50) to oxtail ($21), vegetarians and vegans can enjoy hearty ital stew (root vegetables and okra cooked in seasoned coconut milk, $13.25) and callaloo (braised Jamaican leafy greens, $4.50).

Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@indystar.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin and stay up to date with Indy dining news by signing up for the Indylicious newsletter.