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Recipes
Jerk Chicken or Pork
Jerk Chicken and Jerk Pork are widely available from roadside vendors, little shops, and even established restaurants all over Jamaica.
What is Jerk? It's a method of cooking seasoned meat on an open fire covered with green pimento branches which produce a lot of smoke. It is said that this form of cooking evolved in the days of the buccaneers when they would land on Jamaica's North Coast to hunt the wild pigs which were abundant in those times. As there was no refrigeration, the buccaneers would season the meat and cure it slowly on an open fire.
But there is seasoning and there is seasoning! Jerk seasoning contains that famous local spice called pimento. This is not to be confused with pimiento which is an entirely different thing. Pimento (a little black berry when dried) is commonly known outside of Jamaica as "All Spice."
The fire in jerk comes from
the world's hottest pepper, the scotch bonnet, so
called because it looks like a Scotch
bonnet. If you grow to love Jerk,
you can simulate this type of cooking when you get
back home. Before you leave Jamaica, buy some jars
of Walker's Wood Traditional Jamaican Jerk
Seasoning to take back with you.
(Busha
Browne's is also
very good!) Marinate your chicken or pork with
generous amounts of this seasoning from the night
before, leaving it overnight in the fridge. Then
barbecue as you normally would. If you can't
barbecue, grill in your usual way. You will be
surprised at how good this will taste.
Here is Betty with a custom-made jerk drum, You'll
see drums like these all over the
island.
If you don't believe in shortcuts, you can also make Jerk
Chicken and Jerk Pork from scratch by following the recipes
on Page 70 and 87 respectively of Enid Donaldson's
"The
Real Taste of Jamaica."
Of course, with all these hot spices, you are bound to get thirsty. Nothing better to sip than some of Prem's Rum Punch.
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