Pimento

Ingredients

Curing the berries

• 2 kggreen, full-sized unripe pimento berries, picked in clusters from Pimenta dioica
• sun and a raised drying barbecue or clean concrete floor

Jerk seasoning paste

• 3 tbspground pimento, plus 1 tbsp whole berries
• 8spring onions (escallion), chopped
• 5scotch bonnet peppers, stalks removed
• 8garlic cloves
• 40 gginger
• 3 tbspfresh thyme leaves
• 2 tspgrated nutmeg
• 2 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspground cloves
• 3 tbspdark soy sauce
• 3 tbspwhite vinegar
• 2 tbspdark brown sugar
• juice of 2 limes
• 4 tbspvegetable oil
• 2 tspsalt, 1 tbsp coarse black pepper

Directions

1. Pick the berries green and full sized, before they redden. A ripe pimento berry loses most of its aroma, which is why every commercial crop is harvested unripe.
2. Strip the berries from the stalks and spread them one layer deep on a raised barbecue platform or clean concrete.
3. Sun-dry 5 to 10 days, raking them several times a day and covering them at night against dew. They shrink, turn matt reddish-brown and rattle in the hand when done, at about 10 percent moisture.
4. Store whole in a sealed jar away from light. Whole berries hold their oil for years; ground pimento fades within months, so grind in small batches in a spice mill.
5. For jerk seasoning, grind 3 tbsp of berries fresh and blend with the escallion, scotch bonnet, garlic, ginger, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.
6. Add the soy, vinegar, sugar, lime juice, oil, salt and black pepper and blend to a coarse dark paste, then stir the whole berries through by hand.
7. Rest the paste 24 hours in the fridge before use so the clove note in the pimento comes forward and the raw onion edge dies back. It keeps 3 weeks refrigerated under a film of oil.
8. Use it as a rub, or let 3 tbsp down with 150 ml water and simmer 5 minutes to make the pouring jerk sauce.

Technique

• Pimento is allspice, the dried unripe berry of a tree native to Jamaica, and it tastes of clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper at once because of its eugenol content, not because it is a blend.
• Jamaica grows the most aromatic pimento in the world and the tree is central to the island: its wood and green leaves are the fuel of a jerk pan, and the leaves go directly on top of the food.
• Never grind a whole jar at once. The essential oil is volatile and ground allspice is a shadow of itself within three months.
• Wear gloves for the scotch bonnets and keep them away from your eyes for hours afterwards.

Substitutions

• Cannot get whole pimento: use 2 parts ground clove to 2 parts cinnamon to 1 part nutmeg and 1 part black pepper. It is a poor imitation but it is the right direction.
• Oven-dry the berries at 50°C (120°F) with the door ajar for 6–8 hours if you have no reliable sun.

Variations

• Pimento dram, the Jamaican liqueur of crushed berries steeped in rum with cinnamon and sugar syrup for a fortnight.
• Pimento leaf tea, brewed from a handful of fresh leaves, drunk for colds across the island.
• Whole berries dropped into escoveitch pickle, run down and pepperpot soup.

History

Pimenta dioica is native to Jamaica, which still leads world exports; Spaniards named it pimienta, and jerk is smoked over its wood.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pimento?

Pimento is a sauce & condiment from Jamaica: dried berry tasting of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon, the heart of jerk seasoning. Pimenta dioica is native to Jamaica, which still leads world exports; Spaniards named it pimienta, and jerk is smoked over its wood.

How long does Pimento take to make?

Pimento takes 30 min of preparation and 7 days sun-drying of cooking. The recipe makes 1 jar of dried berries (250 g), plus 400 g jerk seasoning. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pimento?

Yes, within limits. Cannot get whole pimento: use 2 parts ground clove to 2 parts cinnamon to 1 part nutmeg and 1 part black pepper. It is a poor imitation but it is the right direction. Oven-dry the berries at 50°C (120°F) with the door ajar for 6–8 hours if you have no reliable sun.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pimento?

Pick the berries green and full sized, before they redden. A ripe pimento berry loses most of its aroma, which is why every commercial crop is harvested unripe.