MAIN INGREDIENTS
In the past, jerk was used to refer to a pig that was slowly grilled over a fire of pimento wood. Today, the main ingredient is typically chicken, pork, or beef. Jerk refers to a unique Jamaican cooking method where pork, chicken, beef, seafood, and even fruits and vegetables are cooked over a fire pit or on a grill.
Regardless of the meat, the key ingredient to real jerk is a unique, spicy seasoning - a blend of onions, green onions, thyme, Jamaican allspice (also known as pimento), chilies, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon - perfectly encapsulating Jamaica: spicy, hot, and sweet.
MOST ICONIC Jamaican Jerk
View moreBrown stew chicken is a spicy Jamaican dish consisting of chicken pieces that are browned and simmered in a rich gravy made with onions, peppers, ketchup, and water. The dish is traditionally served with rice, peas, fried ripe plantains, and sliced tomatoes.
It is recommended to garnish it with finely chopped green onions.
Peppered shrimps is a popular Jamaican street food item consisting of shrimps with a spicy kick and tons of flavor. They are usually cooked in a skillet with garlic, hot pepper, butter, and thyme, absorbing all of the flavors in the process. In Jamaica, peppered shrimps are often sold to hungry travelers along the roadways by women who have the snacks prepared in little plastic bags.
Although pies filled with meat are popular in many countries throughout the world as a great way to turn cheap cuts of meat into savory bites and making sure that no food goes to waste, Jamaican meat patties are enhanced with unique African and Indian touches.
Derived from English favorites - meat pies, and Spanish pasteles, they are universally loved in Jamaica as a simple street food that can also be served as a main course. Jamaican patties are flat, baked in a half-moon shape, and coated with turmeric on the exterior, while on the interior there is a fragrant, aromatic filling usually consisting of finely ground beef meat, breadcrumbs, and a selected variety of spices such as thyme, onions, garlic, Scotch bonnet chilis, and a zesty curry powder.
MOST ICONIC Jamaican Patty
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
Festival is a Jamaican dumpling made with cornmeal. It is traditionally prepared in an oval shape, and is characterized by its crispy exterior. Apart from cornmeal, the dumplings consist of flour, water, salt, sugar, and baking powder. They are fried in hot oil until a golden, crispy exterior is developed.
It is recommended to serve festivals with saltfish or mango coleslaw on the side.
Oxtail with broad beans is a traditional stew consisting of chopped oxtail, onions, garlic, ginger, chile peppers, fava beans, water, cornstarch, and seasonings such as black pepper, allspice, thyme, and salt. The stew is slowly simmered over medium heat until it thickens and the beans develop a tender texture.
This dish is beloved by numerous locals as it is full of flavor and the meat is so tender that it easily falls off the bone. It is recommended to serve it warm over plain rice or coconut rice.
Escovitch fish is a classic Jamaican dish made by seasoning, marinating, and frying fish with a peppery, vinegar-based dressing consisting of bell peppers, carrots, and onions. Fish such as red snapper, mullet, king fish, or any other firm-bodied fish can be used in the preparation of this dish.
It is traditionally prepared during the Easter festivities, and many believe that the dish tastes even better the next day.
Ackee and saltfish is the national dish of Jamaica consisting of an unusual fruit of West African origin and any sort of dried and salted fish, usually cod, mahi mahi, or mackerel. The dish is very popular either as a nourishing Jamaican breakfast or as an appetizer served for lunch or dinner.
Ackee is a tricky ingredient due to its toxicity, so it is not safe to consume it until the vivid yellow meat and characteristical black seeds (three of them) are visible on the interior of the fruit. It was introduced to the island in the 18th century and looks like a smooth, reddish peach.
Brown stew fish is a Jamaican delicacy made by combining marinated and fried fish fillets with a brown sauce consisting of onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, butter, and water. The stew is often additionally seasoned with thyme and various types of hot peppers.
It is traditionally served with rice and peas or yams and bananas on the side.
Hummingbird cake is a Jamaican dessert that is typically made with flour, vegetable oil, bananas, pineapple, pecans, eggs, vanilla, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and leavening agents. It is usually served with cream cheese frosting. Often thought to have been invented in the late 1960s, the cake was originally called doctor bird cake, referring to a nickname for a Jamaican hummingbird variety known as red-billed streamertail.
Many people believe that the cake was named after the bird because the yellow streaks of banana are reminiscent of the bird’s plumage, while others say it is because the cake is sweet enough to attract hummingbirds. In 1968, the Jamaican tourist board wanted to attract tourists by sending press kits to the United States.
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