The spice of Jamaican cuisine By Heather Little- White, Ph.D., Food & Nutrition Consultant WHEN WE think of our local foods, spicy and nice readily come to mind. Our foods demonstrate a rich cultural heritage and have served to warm the hearts of people worldwide. On Sunday Jamaicans and visitors will be able to enjoy a cornucopia of spicy Jamaican foods at the Jamaica Spice food festival in Ocho Rios. EARLY INFLUENCE The earliest influence on our cuisine came from our aboriginal ancestors -- the Arawaks and Caribs. Common cooking methods for them included boiling and roasting with grated products as essentials. In boiling, a range of flavours come together in soups and stews. The traditional pepperpot soup and stewed peas are good examples. Pickled meats were used heavily in meal preparation as curing was the safest way to preserve meats in the absence of
refrigeration. Roasting, as practised by the Arawaks and Caribs, has its strongest influence on Jamaican cuisine. Barbecue is a word that arose from the Caribs' practice of cooking over an open fire. Today, it is the process known as jerk for which we have become world famous. Jamaica's cuisine has also benefited from the heritage of the colonizers -- the British and Spaniards -- who brought their own foods. There are also strong influences from the East Indians and the Chinese. Of lesser influence on today's cuisine but still significant, were the food practices of the Portuguese, the Jews, French, and North Americans. AFRICAN INFLUENCE It was the Africans, however, who left an indelible mark on our current food practices, which are "must haves". The foods imported by the colonial masters combined with everyday foods like breadfruit, callaloo, okra, and yams used by the slaves, resulted in interesting creations that are still popular today. These include dishes like saltfish fritter, also called "flaw-flaw" or "stamp & go", turn cornmeal, blue drawers, saltfish with roast yam and asham, made from parched dried corn. HERBS AND SPICES Herbs and spices are responsible for the "niceness" of Jamaican foods. Spices popular to Jamaica are pimento, also known as allspice because of the combination of the flavours of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Pimento is used to make jams and liqueurs and as pickling spice. The leaves are used as part of the seasoning for jerking meats. The pimento sticks used on the barbeque, provide flavour for jerked products. Jamaican ginger has become known worldwide because of its distinctive flavour. Ginger has essential healing properties and is versatile in the preparation of all types of meats, savoury dishes such as casseroles and soups, baked products like totoes and in beverages like ginger beer. Rosemary is excellent in soups, stews, with baked, grilled or barbecued meats and poultry. Nutmeg and mace add flavour to baked products, beverages, sauces, vegetables and starchy dishes. There is a reason why people peel oranges and save the peel by hanging it to dry. The peel is used to make a tea and to add a distinctive flavour to sweet potato and cornmeal puddings. Mint which grows easily in the backyard is used to make beverages, with cooked vegetables and with meats. Thyme and escallion are a must for Saturday soup, steamed fish and okra and the Sunday rice and peas. Like a watchman, the scotch bonnet pepper used whole, adds its characteristic Jamaican flavour to any dish.
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