Jamaica
Bold jerk spice, scotch bonnet heat, and coconut richness rooted in African and Maroon traditions. That is the short version of what Jamaica cooks. Look for Jerk chicken (chicken in scotch bonnet-allspice marinade, smoked over pimento wood), Ackee and saltfish (national dish of buttery ackee fruit sautéed with salt cod) and Jamaican patty (flaky turmeric pastry filled with spiced beef). Maroons in the Blue Mountains smoked meat over pimento wood to preserve it; the technique moved to roadside oil-drum grills in the 20th century. This atlas has 52 Jamaica dishes catalogued below, from everyday cooking to food kept for festivals and special occasions.
52 dishes.
Planter’s punchDark rum with lime, sugar, water and bitters over crushed ice
Red peas soupKidney bean soup with pig tail and spinner dumplings
Red StripePale lager in a squat bottle, drunk cold with jerk
Rice and peasCoconut rice with kidney beans, the Sunday essential
Roots tonicBitter dark brew of boiled roots and barks, drunk in small glasses
Rum creamJamaican rum blended with dairy cream, poured over ice or into coffee
Rum punchRum, lime, syrup and water over ice, dusted with nutmeg and bitters
RundownMackerel simmered in reduced spiced coconut milk
Solomon GundyNova Scotian pickled herring with onion, eaten on crackers with cheese
Sorrel drinkHibiscus steeped with clove and ginger, sweetened and chilled
Stamp and GoCrispy saltfish fritters, old-time fast food
Stew peasRed peas cooked in coconut milk with pig's tail and flour dumplings
Stewed oxtailOxtail braised with butter beans and thyme
Sweet potato puddingDense baked pudding of sweet potato, coconut, spice
TingSharp carbonated grapefruit soda with pulp, drunk very cold
TotoSmall dense coconut cake, spiced and cut in squares-
Cerasee tea
Very bitter tea brewed from the dried bitter melon vine. Ready in 5 minutes prep and 10 minutes cooking. Serves…
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Coco bread
Soft folded coconut milk bread, wrapped around a hot patty. Ready in 20 min prep and 15 min cooking. 8…
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Cow foot
Stewed cow’s feet, sticky with gelatine, with broad beans and spinners. Ready in 30 min prep and 4 hr cooking.…
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Cow cod soup
Bull’s genitals simmered with bananas, rum and pepper. Ready in 45 min prep and 3 hr cooking. 6 servings. A…
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Dirty Banana
Rum, coffee liqueur, banana and cream blended with ice into a milkshake. Ready in 5 minutes prep and none cooking.…
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Escovitch fish
Fried fish topped with spicy pickled vegetables. Ready in 30 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking. Serves 4. A main…
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Festival
Sweet fried cornmeal dumplings, jerk’s sidekick. Ready in 20 min prep and 20 min cooking. 10 dumplings. A bread &…
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Fish tea
Peppery clear fish broth drunk from a cup as a restorative. Ready in 30 min prep and 50 min cooking.…
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Fried dumpling
Golden fried flour dumplings, breakfast staple. Ready in 15 minutes prep and 20 minutes cooking. About 10 dumplings. A bread…
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Gizzada
Pinch-crust tart filled with spiced grated coconut. Ready in 40 min prep and 30 min cooking. 16 tarts. A dessert…