Hi everyone! Welcome back to Tasting my Heritage! Today, we’re going to be talking about the history of Jamaica and give an introduction into their foods, as I’ll be going back and forth weekly between Jamaican and Pakistani cuisine.
Just as I mentioned in my introduction into Pakistani cuisine, Jamaica is another one of my ethnicities. My mom is from Jamaica so growing up, it was important to her to show me her different foods so I could understand our culture better.
I will say that Pakistani foods were given to me and my sister more as kids so trying to make Jamaican food will be a little more of a learning experience for me, as I go on with this page.
Many different countries and cultures influenced the different kinds of foods that are traditions in Jamaican cuisine today. Jamaican foods were influenced by African, Spanish, and British cuisines, among many others.
Since Jamaica is a country in the Caribbean, a lot of their recipes are influenced by seafood. Saltfish is one of the fish that is very enjoyed there. Ackee and Saltfish is a dish that is popular and that includes Ackee, which is a native Jamaican fruit and saltfish is a type of salted cod.
Other foods that are well known to Jamaica are jerk chicken (recipe coming soon) and Jamaican patties. Jamaican patties can have beef (which is well-known), chicken, or even shrimp. This is one of my favorites and the patties have the meat inside with a hard shell crust patty on the outside.
For sides, the go-to is rice and peas, callaloo, or fried plantains (of course among so many others). Rice and peas (recipe coming very soon) has rice and “peas” which are red kidney beans and coconut milk together, with a pair of other spices. Callaloo is a plant or leafy vegetable that is softened into a stew form. Fried plantains are popular as well as plantains are a staple fruit in Jamaica. Fried plantains are also a great side.
I hope you enjoy my Jamaican recipes, as I will take suggestions from everyone on what the best recipes are to make.
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References:
https://www.jamaica-land-we-love.com/jamaican-cuisine.html#gsc.tab=0
https://www.bestattravel.co.uk/the-edit/jamaica/what-to-eat-drink-in-jamaica/