Visiting Jamaica? Beware!



 

Mr BlogSpot was warned about the Chilli in the Chicken.

Visit Jamaica? Be careful!

I don’t consider myself the sharpest knife in life’s drawer but then again, I don’t profess to be an idiot either but now and again life tends to take me by surprise. Take food, for instance; I love Jamaican food, I really go for it in a big way, especially the jerk Chicken and jerk Pork.

With this in mind, I often make suggestions to clients of Villas Sur Mer in Negril and Personal Choice Jamaica clients as to what they should try when visiting that pearl of the Caribbean Sea that is Jamaica. I tell them to beware of the Jerk! Oh yes, beware of eating jerk food as it can be very hot indeed and for some delicate tourist bellies it may just be too much, they may end up with Montezuma’s revenge and a savagely burnt mouth.
I really should follow my own advice though as I had a bit of a surprise this morning whilst out in the garden. As I mentioned, I am a great fan of Jamaican food and so it follows that I grow my own chillies because here in the mountains of Spain we can’t seem to get Scotch Bonnet chillies, we can get most other varieties, just not Scotch Bonnet. I was trying out some new varieties and so walked around the garden picking at the ripening chilli plants and tasting them.

Most of my new varieties range from zero on the Scoville scale (In 1912 Wilbur Scoville invented a way of measuring the heat of Chilli plants) up to Jalapeño which is the top end of moderate. I had planted a variety called “Aurora (Capsicum annuum”) which I wasn’t that familiar with. Well folks, I am more than familiar with it now! It was hellish hot between 50 and 100,000 Scovilles! I went running for the ice cubes quick as you like.

So, when visiting Jamaica do beware of what you eat, if you don’t like Chilli in your food then you should ask first because you may end up with Scotch Bonnet or even worse, Dorset Naga in your food. A hot reception awaits you in Jamaica that is for sure. Enjoy!

Jamaica Vacation Villas links:

http://www.villassurmer.com  Negril Villas Jamaica

http://www.luxuryarrivals.com  Jamaica Villas

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe

How to make Jamaica Jerk Chicken

 

If you like spicy food then Jamaica Jerk Chicken (A La Doylie45) is a great dish for you. Depending on which particular type of Chili used (Scotch Bonnet for a real fireball or a milder Birds Eye Chili) will dictate how hot the final dish will be.

Normally this would be cooked on a BBQ or in a smoker, this dish is for cooking inside and utilises the new fangled cooking bags that prevent odours and mucking up the oven. Simple, cheap and tasty, you will love this dish.

Jamaica Vacation Villlas links:
http://www.villassurmer.com/  Negril Villas Jamaica
http://www.luxuryarrivals.com/  Jamaica Villas

Jerk Food Festival Portland Jamaica

The Portland Jerk Festival, Jamaica

We do like to bring you items of interest on this Jamaica Villas and Jamaica Holidays Blog, it’s not all sales pitch, we do like to introduce items of culture and especially culinary items because, as everyone knows full well, the food in the Caribbean is delicious, tasty and different.

This wonderful video is presented by a delightful lady by the name of Crystal, who takes us on a guided tour of the annual Jerk Festival. Jerk cooking is a Jamaican style culinary method, quite often involving Scotch Bonnet peppers!! Wow!

As we move around the stalls you get an idea of how wonderful an occasion this is and a truly Jamaican cultural event. Enjoy the video.



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Email lisa@jamaicantreasures.com
We also recommend you visit this link for Sandals Holidays in Jamaica http://www.jamaicantreasures.com/sandals.php

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe - Cooking For Real

Sunny Anderson of Cooking for Real



I need some help here folks. I decided I will try and make myself some authentic Jamaican Jerk Chicken and I have watched a few food programmers to check out what I need and how to do it but they are all different.

I watched ‘Cooking for Real’ with Sunny Anderson and I was lost halfway through the process, for a start she was bunging in store bought stuff that I can’t get here in Andalucia where I live (In the mountains of Spain, not famed for selling Blue Mountain Coffee, Bob Marley CD’s or Cattleman’s Gold Sauce) and then it was white sugar, brown sugar, this type of vinegar, some of this stuff called Cilantro? As it transpires, Cilantro is actually Coriander to the likes of me, and so on.

There was a link to a recommended Jerk sauce but that gave so many variations that I got confused and spat my dummy out. So, please, anyone, what is THE Jerk sauce recipe for Jamaican Jerk Chicken, the stuff they eat in Jamaica, not this goo they peddle on the telly.

Oh, yes, the bloody videos didn’t work at all of the Food Network Chanel either!

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Email lisa@jamaicantreasures.com
We also recommend you visit this link for Sandals Holidays in Jamaica Sandals Holidays Jamaica  

Authentic Jamaican Jerk Chicken by Aunty Marcia

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Email lisa@jamaicantreasures.com
Have you been to Jamaica or do you live on Jamaica? Add a comment about your favourite place

Jamaica Villas - Jerk cooking - Dat by Pluto Shervington



Sell I a pound of dat ting der!



Lisa takes the staff out to lunch



OK, Jerk! No, I don´t mean OK, Jerk? I mean OK...Jerk. I´m not being rude I am merely addressing the topic of authentic Jamaican cuisine called "Jerk". I know, it's a bit of a dodgey name but hey! get some culture into your life.

The name "Jerk" comes from the Quechua native American language word, "charqui", as does "Jerky", the stuff John Wayne used to eat in them western films. The name "charqui" or "Jerky" means "dried meat" or meat that has been preserved by cutting it into thin strips and smoking it (No! not in a pipe! over a fire! God help me, this Blog entry is going to take all day.)

Nowadays though, "Jerk" means some plonker who is a complete idiot or the method of cooking used in Jamaica either over charcoal or in the kitchen but prepared using spices.

So, Jerk recipes, what makes them so different to other cuisines, like Indian, Thai or Chinese who all use spices in their food?.

The four key ingredients in Jerk cooking are Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice berries, scallions and thyme. "Scallions" are also known as Spring Onions, just in case you had never heard them called Scallions before.

Scotch Bonnet peppers are as hot as hell!!! Scotch Bonnet peppers are among the most intensely hot of all peppers, with a Scoville rating that starts out around 150,000 and can climb as high as 300,000 in some rare specimens.

If you want to know how hot that feels, consider this; The Jalepeño pepper that you have stuffed with cheese at every Tex-Mex food outlet ranks between 2,500 and 8000 on the Scovillescale, so, if you think that has a kick, imagine what 150 - 300,000 rating tastes like?

If you don´t like a burning hot mouth, stay clear of Jerk food, really, stay clear!!!

You can use whatever spices you like to make your Jerk recipe a bit different but the spices I mentioned are the four bedrocks of Jerk.

The meat of choice (Goat or Pork are firm favourites in Jamaica) is marinated for any length of time but 24hrs is a minimum, you need to get all those flaours into the meat.

Then cook the meat, if your using an oven, cook on a low heat and for a long time, this will make the meat fall off the bone. Otherwise, cook over a charcole BBQ, again, really slow and maybe add some wood chippings to give that extra flavour. Bob's your uncle!

That's it! Not rocket science now, is it? I´ve added a video for you to see how the professionals do it.

Dat! by Pluto Shervington

I couldn´t really rap on about Jamaican food without reference to one of the greatest influences on my youth; Music. OK, what's music got to do with eating food? Well, let me pull your coat on this one. Dat! (Yep, that's right, Dat!)

Now, in years passed (many, in my case) I had a little disco and used to play all sorts of music, mostly Pop music, for the punters but also Reggea and Trojan (Trojan was not a style or genre of music but a label) records in particular. There were many great tunes knocking about, such as Desmond Dekker's "The Israelites" but my favourite reggae tune of the time was a silly song by a guy called Pluto Shervington called "Dat"

"Dat" is a song about a Rastafarian called Ozzy who can´t decide if he want's to buy some Ganja (weed, pot, happy grass etc) or something nice to eat with his limited resources. Having decided he would like to fill his belly, he consults the butcher on the possibilities of his forthcoming meal.

Now, Ozzy, being a good Rasta, he doesn't want to go against his faith and eat Pork or shellfish, spies something called "Dat" and asks what it is?

"Dat" is actually Pork but to save everyones blushes, they change the name to "dat" Here are the full lyrics in Patois. (If you listen to the song you´ll understand the weird spelling, it's not me on the happy grass ;-)

Rasta Ozzy from up the hill
Decide to check on him grocery bill
And when him add up the things him need
He don't why him see if he buy little weed
Him hand upon his jaw, Lord
Reading I am just mediate
This time it's so hard Lord
I might not think about emigrate
I make up my mind Lord
I might as well go against my own faith
So I follow the market
I sight the butcher boy by the gate

(You want goat?)
No I might a kill I queen
(Try beef now?)
I no check if no grass a green
(What about fowl?)
What I know it's time for a change
(Mashed fish?)
Got children on that range
(How about the steak?)
Watch it now, me now sight the rate
(Try tripe boss?)
Hold me belly when I pull me pipe
(Alright what about the pork?)
Hush your mouth man, me brethren hear
Sell I upon a dat thing there

Then the butcher pull up a stool
Begin to question Ozzy how him so fool
What kind of something cook in a pot
From him born did never hear about that
Well what ya know master
Give I time make try explain
It's just like a flim show
To protect the humble we change the name
I would have feel so cute
If come and ask for some animal fat
I and I feel safer if we change the subject and call it Dat

(You want goat?)
No I might a kill I queen
(Take the beef then)
I no check if no grass a green
(What about fowl?)
What I know it's time for a change
(Take fish then)
Got children on that range
(Make good steak you know)
Watch it now, me now sight the rate
(Take the tripe then boss)
Hold me belly when I pull me pipe
(Force down the pork then)
Hush your mouth man, me brethren hear
Sell I upon a dat thing there

Ozzy pay off the butcher bill
Take him parcel and trode up the hill
Like a spy who do you think him meet?
Rasta Jeremiah from down the street
For guidance me brethren
Is what you have in that there bag?
Him kind of get frightened
And begin to hide it beneath him rag
That man no fear high Lord
If we go and begone here and take us off
Meanwhile light a fire
And where we eat us upon a DAT

(You want goat?)
No I might a kill I queen
(Take the beef then)
I no deal with grass a green
(What about fowl?)
What I know it's time for a change
(Eat Fish then)
Got children on that range
(The steak's good enough)
Watch it now, me now sight the rate
(What about the tripe then?)
Hold me belly when I pull me pipe
(Well take the pork man)
Hush your mouth man, me brethren hear
Sell I upon a dat thing there.

http://www.jamaicantreasures.com
Email lisa@jamaicantreasures.com
Have you been to Jamaica or do you live on Jamaica? Add a comment about your favourite place