Executive summary By darmansjah
PORK, which is
marinated with Scotch bonnet chillies, allspice, sugar, cinnamon and a plethora
of other ingredients, is slow-cooked over a smoky wood fire to create this
dish, which is best eaten using your fingers.
ORIGIN Pork was the original jerk meat, a leftover fro mthe
Sapnish conquests of the 15th and 16th centuries. A less
happy reminder of Spanish rule were the Maroons-African slaves left to fend for
themselves on the islands, and brutally hunted by the British. The Maroons
needed meat that could be easily transported and kept, so they came up with a
jerk seasoning made from readily available ingredients. It had the added bonus
of adding flavor and, smoked over a fire of pimento wood and berries, the
seasoning pierced deep into the meat.
TASTING In the Caribbean, you’ll have no problem spotting
the jerk stalls, which are surrounded in billowing clouds of scented smoke. The
cooking vehicle of choice is usually a split oil barrel, it s coals expertly
tended. Pimento wood is less common now, and the smoking of the meat pretty
much extinct. Still, jerk seasoning varies from stall to stall. The meat should
be tender and bursting with jice: the heat comes first-a fruity blast of
chilli-then a sweetness to temper the fire. Each bite should have a whisper of
allspice, a hint of nutmeg or cinnamon, and that blackened, sticky crust – the
quintessence of jerk.
FINDING IT Scotchile’s jerk centre has outlets in
Jamaica’Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Kingston. Dine in open thatched-roof
shelters and enjoy authentic side dishes such as roast breadfruit and yam (dishes
from US$2.40; 00 1 44 794 9457).
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