So, here you are. You have finally reached the wonderful Jamaican island and you are eager to try the Gems of the Jamaican Cuisine, those great soups, the patty wrapped in coco bread, the curry goat with rice and peas, the bulla cakes and many others.
A Brief of the Jamaican Cuisine
The Jamaican cuisine is a wonderful world of flavors, spices, and interesting cooking techniques with influences from different nationalities: British, African, Spanish, Indian, and Chinese. What makes the Jamaican food such a pleasure? Cooking with love is the secret which makes the food so delicious and tasty.
In Jamaica you can find seafood, tropical fruits, but also meat cooked in a traditional way or using techniques brought to this great island by the conquistadors, modalities that had been included in the local recipe with a flavor of originality.
The most popular Jamaican dishes are steamed cabbage, ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica and salt fish (cod), fried dumplings, fried plantain, curry goat, jerk, pigeon peas, and kidney beans. And for deserts the patties and the fruits shakes are usually ordered by locals and tourists due to their exceptional aroma.
Jamaican cuisine has been enriched during the years by the emigrants who travelled and worked across the world and returned with a better knowledge of the International cuisine. The Jamaican cuisine is actually a merge between traditional dishes and the international cooking techniques and recipes.
The Gems of the Jamaican Cuisine could not exist without its marvelous ingredients, such as ackee, allspice (locally known as “pimento”), avocado (locally known as “pear”), acerola (locally known as “cherry”), pigeon peas (locally known as “gungo peas”), calabaza (locally known as “pumpkin”), cassava (locally known as “yuca”), chayote (locally known as “chocho”), thyme, oxtail, and many others.
What to Eat and Where?
Are you a food adventurer or not very keen to have unusual experiences?
If you are not really the explorer type then you can go for pizzas, burgers, pasta, chicken, fries, coke and beer. But if you like scuba diving, bungee jumping, mountain tracking, and you are eager to take home with you a whole new culture then you should definitely have to try ackee and saltfish, boiled banana or boiled yam, patty, coco bread, fried plantains or boiled banana, curried goat or chicken, and many others.
For drinks you should definitely go for the Blue Mountain coffee, cerassee tea, Milo, Ting, juice (pawpaw, carrot, banana, orange, etc.).
If you want to try a cheap Caribbean restaurant go at Chelsea Jerk Centre (7 Chelsea Ave, Kingston) or Chicken Lavish (West End Rd, Negril), Indies Pub and Grill (8 Holborn Rd, Kingston), Mom’s (7 Evelyn St, Ocho Rios). If you are looking for a more expensive restaurant and exquisite tastes you can book a table at Bridge House Inn (14 Crane Rd, Black River, St. Elizabeth), Mille Fleurs (Port Antonio) or Norma’s on the Terrace (26 Hope Rd, Kingston).
Enjoy to the full the Jamaican adventure full of new tastes and delicious dishes!