
Jerk Chicken
Chicken marinated overnight in a paste of scotch bonnet, allspice, thyme, nutmeg and scallion, then grilled. It is Jamaican, and it sits in Worldwide Recipes under Caribbean with its URL unchanged. Its history is directly relevant to this site. Jerk as a technique comes from the Taíno, the indigenous people of Jamaica, and it was taken up and developed by Africans brought to the island, including the Maroons, communities of escaped enslaved people who lived independently in the interior and for whom slow-cooking meat over a covered fire was both practical and concealable. What is now Jamaica's most recognisable dish is a product of that meeting. Two things define real jerk beyond the spice mix. The first is pimento wood, the allspice tree, burned under the meat, so the smoke carries the same aromatic compounds as the seasoning. The second is slow cooking over that smoke rather than fast grilling. Neither is available to most home cooks, which is why domestic jerk chicken is good rather than great. The heat is not optional and should not be reduced too far. Scotch bonnet is central, and its fruity aroma matters as much as its heat. The source's ingredient list is the only place five-spice powder appears; it is not traditional but it works.
1 hrAmara























