I love breaking boundaries and stepping into the unknown. But, I was little sceptical before stepping into this country and was quite apprehensive about the way I would be treated. But I am glad and proud of myself for taking the risk and deciding to stay in this awesome place. As you guys who are an avid reader of my blog know how much I love cricket. So the West-Indian team was no exception. I loved their chilled out attitudes, and of course their cool cricketing styles. It’s very easy to look at something on a television, sitting comfortably on your couch and make an opinion about a place. But I didn’t do that. Unable to quench my thirst for the love of this country, I packed my bags and flew to the other part of the world to actually experience how the Caribbean’s have fun.
Exploring Jamaica
It’s true; nobody can enjoy the way these people enjoy. They are least bothered by their problems and every little thing calls for a grand celebration accompanied by good food, beer and dance.The home to the most altruistic, friendly and laid-back people, has the perfect unofficial motto “No problem man”! Yeah, you need not worry about any damn thing as long as you are amidst them. So, obviously my scepticism and apprehension lost itself in the waves of the Caribbean sea and I found myself enjoying exuberantly in their joy.The world-famous island country of the world with the most chilled out vibes, Jamaica is the home to excellent cuisines and mouth-watering flavours. True to the Jamaican motto “tunyuhanmek fashion”, they are an expert at making wonders out of whatever is available to them. Their uber simplicity and extraordinary cuisines made me a firm believer in the famous Jamaican saying, “The way to a Jamaican man’s heart is through his stomach”. A typical Jamaican man loves to eat a home cooked meal and a typical Jamaican woman relishes cooking. Simply saying it was a blissful experience for me to be there would be sincerely an understatement. I got to try the quintessential Jamaican dishes and oh my! Were they spicy and hot! It simply doesn’t get any better. It’s a taste which my taste buds crave.
Totally charmed by the country I couldn’t help but be more relaxed than I ever was. I find myself cooking and dancing more often. So I am going to share with you’ll a famous recipe to satiate my taste buds and for the happiness of the Jamaicans’“the jerk chicken”.
Before stepping into the kitchen a little information about the food makes it even more fun. So let’s get to know stuff!
Getting To Know The Dish
Origin Of The Word
The term jerk originated from the word charqui, a Spanish term for jerked or dried meat, which later on became the word jerky in English. The action of jerking or poking holes into the meat so that it absorbs the spices is also the reason for naming the chicken as jerk chicken.The term jerk spice means spice rub or wet marinade over the chicken pieces. Jerk cooking and seasoning is renowned all over the world. French Caribbean’s, "Pouletboucané" (Smoked Chicken) resembles the traditional Jamaican jerk chicken.
Style Of Cooking
This has a unique way of cooking. It started being cooked with the help of pit fires and later graduated to old barrel halves. These barrels were filled with charcoals which induce the spicy and smoky flavour into the chicken. This is undeniably the most popular ways of jerking the meat. But these days most jerks in Jamaica are grilled over hardwood charcoal in a drum of steel also known as the jerk pan.
Learning About Our Ingredients
Any typical Jamaican delicacy is solely based on two prime ingredients – Scotch Bonnet chilli peppers (or habaneros) and allspice. You must be wondering what this allspice is. Allspice is nothing but simply the dried fruit of the Pimentadioica plant. They pick the fruits when green and unripe and usually dry them in the Sun. Once they have dried out, they become brown and look quite similar to pepper cons. They prefer to use this whole fruit and ground them prior to cooking instead of powdered, as it has a magical aroma which gives a heavy dose of dopamine rush. Its leaves are a magical part of the plant. They taste similar to bay leaves. This is how people get to call this magical plant by its versatile name- Allspice or “pimento” when in Jamaica.
Traditionally jerk seasoning is applied to pork and chicken but contemporary recipes don't hesitate to use jerk spice mixes to fish, shrimp, shellfish, beef, sausage, lamb, Llama, vegetables, and tofu.
Now after the ice breaking session with the dish let’s get to the best part, Cooking!
But before we get our hands wrapped in the luscious dish, let’s quickly collect the ingredients without which it’s impossible to cook.
Ingredients:
- 2 Scotch Bonnet peppers( or habaneros) with seeds
- 4 Green onion chopped
- 1 red onion chopped
- 1 tbsp dried Thyme or 2 tbsp Thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 Teaspoon olive oil
- 2 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoon freshly grounded black pepper
- 4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 roasting chicken cut in half lengthwise
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon zest and ¼ cup lime juice
Procedure
- Take in the mentioned quantity of pepper, thyme, nutmeg, ginger, garlic, allspice, lime zest and juice, brown sugar, olive oil and soy sauce. Blend these spices into a rough puree for about one minute
- Keep the chickens on a plate and spread the blended mixture over the chicken. Now we’ll put these chickens into a zipper-lock plastic bag or cover tightly with plastic wrap. And refrigerate the chicken for 10 hours or 1 day. Bid them goodbye for some time!
- After waiting for 10 long hours bring out your marinated chicken from the plastic bags and don’t throw the remaining marination. Place them in a pan and bring it to a boil for 10 minutes. We’ll use it later.
- Pre-heat grill to medium heat, wrap up your chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Place chicken halves on the grill grates with the skin side down. Cover it up and cook for about an hour. Keep the internal grill temperature between 350 to 400°F. You know how to turn the chicken occasionally and put the marinate wherever required. You’ll know that the chicken is done when you can put a knife and it comes out clean. Remember to use 165-170°F for the breast and 180-185°F for the thigh.
- Serve the chicken on a plate after cutting it into pieces with rice and black beans.
Now without much delay just dig into this delicious and succulent dish and forget all of your problems the way Jamaicans do. I am super excited and nostalgic to give back those lip-smacking taste to my taste buds. Don’t forget to put on the music and shake your leg on few Jamaican songs only after you’ve tasted Jamaica with your tongue.