Typical Food

Typical Food

Jamaica is famous for their great tasty to the food and cooking. The Jamaican food is spicy and is usually seasoned with Jamaican Jerk seasoning.

*Jerk seasoning is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meats are marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. This is the most popular for seasoning and cooking meat, fish and vegetables. Jerk seasoning is based mainly on two topics: allspice (called "pimento" in Jamaica) and Scotch bonnet peppers (among the hottest peppers on the Scoville scale). Other ingredients include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, onion, vinegar, soy, garlic and rum. That is famous around the world and loved by visitors to the island.

*Ackee and saltfish: The national breakfast dish is ackee and saltfish. Ackee is cooked and looks much like scrambled eggs. You won’t find ackee for sale in the United States because it is poisonous until it’s ripe.

*Merey the devil: This fruit brought from Africa has become one of the most used ingredients in the kitchen island. With it you can prepare fish, soufflés and other popular recipes.

*Pasties: Check with the English colonization, mainly made of meat or vegetables.

*Blue Mountain Coffee: It is recognized as one of the best in the world, is taken by English royalty, but their production is very limited, so its price is very high.

*Rabbit Rum: Rum is always present in the kitchen and throughout the life of the island. This dish requires at least 2 days of marinated and preparation, and is notable for its intense and exotic flavor.

*Bulla - A spicy bun.

*Bun - A favorite Easter dish, bun is a spicy bread eaten with cheese.

*Cowcod soup - Another one of those infamous Jamaican aphrodisiacs, cowcod soup is usually sold at roadside stands and includes bananas, pepper and white rum.

*Curried goat -You just don’t get any more Jamaican than curried goat. Look for it on any traditional island menu. It’s especially popular at festivals and parties.

*Duckanoo - The recipe for duckanoo was brought from Africa. This delicious dessert is made with cornmeal, coconut, spices and brown sugar, all of which are tied up in a banana leaf (hence its other names, Blue Drawers and Tie-A-Leaf) and slowly cooked in boiling water.

*Escovitch - Escovitch is a style of cooking using vinegar, onions and spices brought to Jamaica by the Spanish Jews. In Jamaican grocery stores you can also find bottled escovitch sauce to make the preparation easier.

*Fish tea - This spicy soup looks and tastes much better than it sounds. Like a fish bouillon, this broth captures the taste of the sea. Watch out for fish bones when you eat this popular favorite.

*Mannish water - This spicy soup is reportedly an aphrodisiac (along with many other Jamaican specialties). Mannish water is sometimes called power water, and is made from goats’ heads (some cooks include tripe and feet as well), garlic, scallions, cho-cho, green bananas, Scotch bonnet peppers and spinners. White rum is an optional ingredient. Often, men enjoy mannish water before drinking rum, but this item is a rarity on restaurant menus – it’s usually sold at roadside stands, along with roasted yam.

*Red peas soup - Another one of Jamaica’s famous soups, this one is made from kidney beans, salted pig tails, beef and vegetables.

*Rundown - This entrée is pickled fish cooked in a seasoned coconut milk until the fish just falls apart or literally “runs down.”