Jamaican cuisine

Jamaican cuisine includes a mixture of cooking techniques, flavours and spices influenced by Amerindian, West African, Irish, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern people who have inhabited the island. It is also influenced by the crops introduced into the island from tropical Southeast Asia, many of which are now grown locally. A wide variety of seafood, tropical fruits and meats are available.

Some Jamaican dishes are variations on cuisines brought to the island from elsewhere. These are often modified to incorporate local produce and spices. Others are novel or fusion and have developed locally. Popular Jamaican dishes include curry goat, fried dumplings, ackee and saltfish. Jamaican patties along with various pastries, breads and beverages are also popular.

Jamaican cuisine has spread with emigrants, especially during the 20th century, from the island to other nations as Jamaicans have sought economic opportunities in other countries.

History

Women selling desserts in Kingston, Jamaica, c. 1899

Development of the cuisine

Billboard at Fish Pot Kitchen, White River

The original inhabitants of Jamaica, the Taínos, developed dishes such as jerk meats, bammy, cassava bread and pepperpot (made with callaloo and scotch bonnet pepper). Taíno influence can also be found in dishes like turned cornmeal, duckunoo and Jamaican hominy corn porridge. African cuisine developed on the island as a result of waves of slavery and indentureship, such as callaloo from the Angolan dish calulu , okra and taro. The Spanish, the first European arrivals to the island, contributed dishes such as the vinegary escovitch fish (Spanish escabeche), stewed dishes like brown stew meats and stew peas with cured meats, as well as, the soaking of fruits in wine for desserts. Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had escaped the inquisition in the 1500s also introduced coconut macaroons, gizzada, and salted codfish which is used in the national dish ackee and saltfish. It has become a staple from the time it was eaten by enslaved Africans as a long-lasting source of affordable protein. The Jamaican patty, a pasty or empanada-styled turnover filled with spiced meat may have been influenced by the Cornish and the Spanish. Baked goods like puddings, fruit cakes and spiced bun were influenced by the British, who ruled the island until its independence. After the abolition of slavery, indentured labourers from India, China, Scotland, Ireland, Germany and the Azores in Portugal replaced slaves. As such, East Indian influences can be found in Jamaican cuisine like roti, dhal, ginger and curried dishes, while Chinese influences can be found in dishes with pak choy and mustard, the use of soy sauce and escallion on meats, chow mein and sweet and sour meats. Irish moss and porridges were influenced by the Irish and Scottish. The French, possibly those who fled from Haiti or French Jews who went to Jamaica during the inquisition, along with the Spanish, may have influenced dishes like Jamaican fricassee chicken and other cooking techniques.

Jamaican cuisine and the Rastafari

Jamaican cuisine includes Rastafari influences. Rastafari have a holistic vegan approach to preparing food, cooking, and eating, and have introduced a host of unique vegetarian dishes to Jamaican cuisine. Rastafari do not eat any living creature, saying that nothing with a face is suitable for human consumption. The diet of adherents of Rastafari beliefs is referred to as Ital, from the English word vital. This diet is believed by adherents to maintain and honor the Temple of the Body, wherein the spirit of divinity dwells. Food which is grown nearby, picked fresh, and cooked immediately possesses the most "Itality". Popular Ital dishes include ackee stew, pepper pot, pumpkin rice, and callaloo. Modern Rastafari are blending global vegan trends with Ital roots, creating new dishes such as jerk hummus.

Popular dishes

Main article: List of Jamaican dishes

Ackee and saltfish

A Jamaican patty wrapped in coco bread

A Jamaican breakfast includes ackee and saltfish, seasoned callaloo, boiled green bananas, and fried dumplings.

Soups

• Beef soup
• Chicken soup
• Corn soup
• Cow skin soup
• Fish tea
• Gungo peas soup
• Janga soup
• Mannish water
• Pepperpot
• Pumpkin soup
• Conch soup
• Red peas soup
• Mutton soup

Side dishes

• Breadfruit (boiled, fried or roasted)
• Callaloo
• Cooked rice
• Dumplings (boiled or fried)
• Festival
• Bammy (fried or steamed)
• Fried plantain
• Pressed green plantain
• Boiled plantain
• Fried rice
• Green banana
• Ground provisions
• Macaroni and cheese
• Potato salad
• Rice and peas
• Spanish rice
• Seasoned rice - containing saltfish and spices.
• Pumpkin rice
• Callaloo rice
• Coconut rice
• Stir-fry or steamed vegetables
• Shredded cabbage and carrot
• Bok choy
• Stew peas
• Turned cornmeal

Breads and pastries

Bammy flatbread

• Bammy
• Black cake
• Bulla cake
• Coco bread
• Grotto
• Hard dough bread
• Peg bread
• Rock cake
• Rum cake
• Spiced bun
• Sugar bun

Beverages

• Bigga and D&G sodas
• Bush tea
• Carrot juice with spices such as nutmeg and vanilla
• Chocolate milk
• Cherry malt
• Coffee drinks
• Cocktails
• D&G Malta
• Fruit juices (june plum, guava, mango, otaheite apple, pawpaw, pineapple, soursop, cherry, ribena, starfruit, jimbilin etc.)
• Ginger beer
• Guinness punch with spices such as nutmeg and vanilla
• Irish moss
• Peanut punch
• Eggnog
• Limeade
• Liqueurs (Sangster's, Tia Maria, etc.)
• Mauby
• Pimento dram
• Red Stripe
• Rums
• Rum creams (including flavours like coffee, chocolate, rum & raisin, coconut and banana)
• Sorrel
• Lasco Jamaica food drinks
• Supligen
• Tamarind Fizz
• Ting (grapefruit soda)
• Kola Champagne
• Cream soda

Desserts and sweets

Grapenut and rum and raisin ice cream are two popular desserts. Jamaican ice cream comes in many flavours like, coffee, pistachio, jackfruit, coconut, mango, pineapple, guava, soursop and Dragon Stout.

Other popular desserts include batata pudding, cornmeal pudding, cassava pone, gizzada, grater cake, toto, banana fritters, coconut drops, plantain tarts, guava cheese, banana bread, rum cake, carrot cake, pineapple cake, fruit cake and coconut macaroons.

Tie-a-leaf or blue drawers is a dish made by combining a starch (usually cornmeal, cassava or sweet potato) with coconut milk, spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, sugar and vanilla, then wrapped and tied in banana leaf before boiling.

Asham is parched corn that is ground and combined with brown sugar.

Tamarind balls are candy made with the sticky flesh of the fruit rolled with brown sugar into round sweet and sour balls. You can also make a spicy version that contains hot pepper in the mix.

Bustamante Backbone, also called Busta, stagga back or buss mi jaw, is a toffee-like candy named after Jamaica's first Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante. It is made with brown sugar, coconut, ginger and molasses, and can also include coffee, vanilla and lime juice.

Jamaican food abroad

Jamaican coco bread from a Los Angeles bakery

Jamaican cuisine is available throughout North America, the United Kingdom, and other places with a sizeable Jamaican population. In the United States, a large number of restaurants are located throughout New York's boroughs, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and other metropolitan areas. In Canada, Jamaican restaurants can be found in the Toronto metropolitan area, as well as Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa.

Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill is a chain of about 120 franchised restaurants found throughout the U.S. These restaurants sell Jamaican patties, buns, breads, and other popular Jamaican dishes. They also supply food to several institutions in New York.

See also

• List of Jamaican chicken species
• Caribbean cuisine

External links

• Media related to Cuisine of Jamaica at Wikimedia Commons
• daytimeexclusive.com - A Recipe Guide On How To Bake Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding