Jerk Chicken – A Must-Try Staple

Sold by fine dining venues, mid-range restaurants, and street vendors alike, jerk chicken is a national food in Jamaica that steals impressions with its special seasoning mix (aka jerk spice) made from nutmeg, pepper, garlic, thyme, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. The chicken is usually spatchcocked, coated, and covered in marinate, left in the fridge overnight to soak all the flavours from the marinade, and then rubbed with oil and grilled or barbecued.

 Bonus chicken dish: Speaking of chicken, Brown Stew Chicken is another popular Jamaican dish that the locals typically make on Sundays. It consists of vegetables and fried chicken cooked in aromatic spices to entertain your taste buds.

Ackee and saltfish - Divine Simplicity

Yet another Jamaica national food, ackee, and saltfish is made with ackee (a Jamaican fruit originating from Ghana) and saltfish (salt cod) that’s sautéed with onions, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, Scotch Bonnet peppers, and, of course, boiled ackee and spices. It is a dish typically served as dinner or breakfast paired with plain white rice, rice, and peas, boiled green bananas, fried plantain, dumplings, hard dough bread, or breadfruit.

Curry Goat – Savoury and Comforting

After slavery was abolished, an Indian population reached the shores of Jamaica to work in the plantations, also carrying their curry in their luggage. It did not take long before the interesting ingredient became embedded in the local cuisine, giving birth to recipes like curry goat. To prepare it, you marinate goat meat with curry powder, salt, garlic, Scotch Bonnet pepper, and onions, and refrigerate overnight for the meat to sit in the marinade. Then the meat is sauteed with peppers and onions then slow-cooked until tender. Some cooks even add potatoes to the mix. In any case, it is a flavoursome dish usually eaten with a side of fried plantains, roti, or rice.

Run Down – Hearty and Tasty

A palate-pleasing fish stew with an amazing flavour that wants mackerel or cod (or other types of seafood) to be cooked in tomatoes, onions, garlic, different types of seasonings, Scotch Bonnet pepper, bay leaf, and reduced coconut milk until its consistency thickens and the fish actually starts to fall apart (hence, the name)! The recipe may also contain yam and/or plantain. Expect to have it served along with either dumplings with boiled bananas or rice.

Jamaican Patties – The Jamaican Version of the Empanada

A Jamaican patty is basically a meat pastry filled with beef (could also be chicken, lobster, shrimp, or some kind of fish) that you will find referred to as a snack rather than a meal. Curry powder, turmeric, salt, onions, thyme, garlic, molasses sugar, Scotch Bonnet hot sauce, or chilli, pepper, and ginger are just some of the ingredients used to create this explosive dish with the delicious dressing. Jamaican patties are usually served with a salad containing tomatoes, oranges, onions, and seasonings.

Other Popular Jamaican Dishes

Escovitch Fish – Red snapper or kingfish (or another type of fish) is seasoned, fried, marinated with a dressing made with onions, carrots, bell peppers and vinegar, and served with vegetables. It is a spicy and tart dish.

Solomon Gundy – Brought to the country by Europeans, it is a creamy herring paste (from smoked herring) infused with local spices and served as an appetiser on delicious crackers.

Bammy – Developed by the Arawaks, it is a cassava-made flatbread sold by small food shops and street vendors across Jamaica with or without syrup.

Jamaican Oxtail Stew – A classic savoury meat stew served with rice and peas, another local staple food. Its list of ingredients is impressively long and consists of Jamaican scallions, onions, garlic, tomatoes, celery, thyme, carrots, Scotch Bonnet pepper, and many more – all slowly cooked for hours until the meat is super tender.

Jamaican Porridge – Often ordered as breakfast, it is a porridge made from oats (or plantains) and cornmeal. The recipe may even require soy milk, walnuts, cinnamon, orange, sugar, and/or nutmeg.

Rice and Peas – Although not a Jamaican signature dish, it is definitely a popular option along the Caribbean made with peas (black-eyed beans, though, not the green peas eaten in the USA, Europe, and Canada). The Jamaican version, though, which is also called Coat of Arms, serves it with red kidney beans cooked in spices and coconut milk.

Most Popular Jamaican Drinks

Local rum is, of course, a signature drink in Jamaica that is often mixed with other local tastes, such as a Jamaican grapefruit soda called Ting, creating exciting flavours. This mainly applies to white Jamaican rums, such as Wray & Nephew.

Other than that, though, the Jamaicans fall head over heels for sorrel tea, which is much more preferred than coffee for breakfast. Sorrel tea is made from dried hibiscus (the locals call it sorrel) buds with sugar and ginger. It is then chilled overnight and served with a squirt of lime, a splash of soda water, and ice. The end result? A refreshing drink with an astringent, lemony, tart flavour!

While in Jamaica, you may also want to taste the quintessential crisp lager the Jamaicans swear over, the Red Stripe. Or you might want to pamper your taste buds with the clean and natural flavour of the Jamaican-made ginger beer made from cane sugar rather than corn syrup.

Finally, a Sea Cat Punch could be an interesting addition to your evenings out in town. It is made from the white liquid that is produced after boiling octopus (called Sea Cat in Jamaica), which is then combined with molasses, peanuts, rum cream, malt powder, a protein supplement (aka Supligen), and white rum until it all becomes a thick shake.

Popular Sweet Treats & Desserts

Those with a sweet tooth will probably find the following treats particularly mouth-watering:

• Sweet Potato Pudding
• Rum Cake
• Coconut Toto
• Gizzada
• Banana Pancake
• Bulla Cake
• Coconut Drops
• Grater Cake
• Dukunnu
• Mango Cheesecake

As for their list of ingredients, we will leave the taste-exploration part of the fantastic culinary journey to you!