Jamaican Food

Jamaican food recipes are known for their spicy and well seasoned offerings that you will taste in any of the cuisines. But there really is no big secret to how the Jamaican food is prepared, its all in the spices and seasonings that bring out that unique flavor. There are so many dishes that are popular today; we are not going to go through all the wonderful delights; just highlighting some of the real deals.

Before we delved into the dishes, just let me explain something about the preparation of our meats. In any kitchen that you visit on this island, you will not find the seasoning just being sprinkled to the meats. Before cooking is done, the meat is properly cut in the required sizes, rubbed thoroughly with seasoning and spices and left to marinade overnight. There are different spices that will bring out the flavors and most of the spices that is used is onions, pimento, scallions, thyme, nutmeg and many more; but to get the real hot and spicy flavor, you have to add some scotch bonnet pepper. When all of that seasonings and spices is left to marinade, the taste that you will get will have your mouth watering long after you return home from your vacation.

Now let’s take a look at some of the popular dishes:

Jamaican curry goat
This is a popular dish that you will find in almost all the Jamaican restaurants and is a favorite meal for parties, holidays and special celebrations. This style of cooking was brought to us by the East Indian who came to the island as immigrants. It was said that when the Indians came to Jamaica they searched all over for lamb, which they were accustomed to back home and could not find any on the island. They loved their curried lamb so much that they tried the next best thing and this was the goat meat.

The Indians brought a lot of spices and curry powder with them and this was introduced to the dishes on the island. The curried goat grown to be a popular dish and is normally well spicy and seasoned well. Just like most Jamaicans, the Indians love their spices and you will find that the curried dishes are will laced with the scotch bonnet peppers. This well loved dish is served with white fluffy rice with side orders of vegetables or any other accompaniment of choice.


Jamaica Escovietch Fish Recipes
This popular dish is a favorite among the Jamaicans; the popular escovietch sauce is from the Spanish settlers. The sauce is made from vinegar, hot pepper, onions and pimento seeds, which is added to the fish after it has been deep fried. You can also get this dish in most of the restaurants across the island, but there are some places where it is a specialty. If you are in the Kingston area you could check out spots at Port Royal and Hellshire in Portmore or if you are on the north coast there is Little Ochie and a spot called “Border”. This is another mouth watering favorite that is usually served with bammy.

Ackee and Salt fish
This is the national dish of Jamaica and a favorite for many, mostly served as a breakfast meal. This popular dish is normally served with boiled bananas, yam and dumpling, fried dumpling, plantains or breadfruit; it can be eaten with just about anything.

Jamaican Seafood dishes
Jamaican people loved their seafood dishes whether it is fish, shrimp, conch or lobster. These are prepared in many different ways such as curried, grilled, jerk, barbecue, brown stew, steamed and in any cooking style that is preferred.

So many dishes to choose from and these are just a few of the many that you will find on the Jamaican cuisine. There are hundreds of recipes with authentic Jamaican food available; you have not experience this island until you sample the delectable cuisines.