Jerk refers to a style of cooking in which the main ingredient—which most often is chicken but may also be beef, pork, goat, boar, seafood, or vegetables—is coated in spices and slow-cooked over a fire or grill traditionally composed of green pimento wood positioned over burning coals; the resulting smoke is key to the …
The smokeless pit’s significance stems from the fact that the Maroons, who sought refuge in Cockpit Country—the mountain range surrounding the plantations where they’d previously been enslaved—had to sustain themselves without revealing their locations. If they cooked over an open fire, the smoke would betray them.
Jerk today has developed from portable, shelf-stable sustenance like beef jerky into a culinary mainstay. It, too, has gone from a celebratory meal to a part of everyday dining. Jerk is on the menus of school cafeterias and office canteens. Throughout the island, “jerk centers” (restaurants dedicated to jerk cuisine), jerk pan men (male chefs who operate roadside jerk stands using converted metal oil drums as smokers/grills), and women-operated cookshops that have jerk Fridays, are prolific.
As Cooper says, jerk seasoning, “like reggae music, … has become a global Jamaican brand.” Every year, Grace Foods, the island’s largest manufacturer and exporter of Jamaican food products, sells close to three million jars of jerk seasoning (paste) globally.
In the same way that Jamaicans across the world digitally joined forces in 2018 to address Jamie Oliver’s ignominious Punchy Jerk Rice, they refused to let this culinary insult pass. The otherwise well-regarded plucky British chef unveiled a new microwave-able ready-to-serve package of flavored rice with garlic, ginger and hot peppers; the result was far from anything resembling what Jamaicans knew as “jerk.” Their disdain was shared through Twitter rants, op-eds and appearances on morning television. The British newspaper the Sun referred to the outraged diaspora as “snowflakes,” and numerous white people on social media lamented that jerk was “just a sandwich.” But the fact is, for Jamaicans, jerk is much more than “just” anything.
“They are so focused on the cachet of jerk as a name that they end up missing the real prize of delivering its awesome, authentic flavor,” says Ferguson. Cooper echoes this sentiment, noting, “Products like Campbell’s … Jammin’ Jerk Chicken With Rice and Beans soup are likely to be greeted with derision by Jamaicans who know that authentic jerk food cannot be easily packaged for mass consumption. [They are] often watered down… losing the pungency of the pimento berries and Scotch bonnet pepper that are essential ingredients of the fiery seasoning.”
During the early seventeenth century, The British brought slaves to Jamaica in order to Guarantee a steady supply of sugar, coffee, cocoa, pimento, and other goods to merchants. A group of these slaves escaped into the mountains and were later named the Maroons. The Maroons would blend an array of spices and herbs that they would later use to marinate and cook the wild game they hunted, mostly wild boar. This led to the famous “Jamaican Jerk”. Traditional Jamaican Jerk is a method of cooking pork. Nowadays chicken, seafood or beef can be seasoned in this manner as well. Jerk is a complex blend of seasonings including scallions, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, salt, thyme, allspice, black pepper and many other spices. all of ingredients grow on the island’s fertile green landscape.
Jerk chicken is believed to have been conceived when the Maroons introduced African meat cooking techniques to Jamaica which were combined with native Jamaican ingredients and seasonings used by the Arawak Indians. The method of smoking meats for long periods of time served for good reasons (1) keeping insects away from the raw meat and (2) Preserving the meat longer once it has been cooked. This process also introduces a strong smoky flavor to the meat.
The legendary Mecca for Jerk is Boston beach on the northeastern end of Jamaica. here most of the vendors have built huts over fires directly on the beach like the maroons that came before them. The meat is cooked on pimento wood or sheets of metal used as griddles and sometimes covered with plantain leaves. The typical cooking style uses a marinade or paste that includes pimento, known as allspice and scotch bonnet peppers, similar to habanero. The meat is then marinated and slow smoked over pimento wood.
According to most food historians tells us the “Jerk” is the Spanish word that comes from a Peruvian word “Charqui” meaning dried strips of meat like what we call “Jerky”. Most historians agree Jamaica was settled by the Arawak Indians over 2500 years ago from South America. They used similar techniques to smoke and dry meat in the sun or over a slow fire and this were common in Peru. This was important as the dried beef could be taken on journeys and eaten as is or chopped and reconstituted in boiling water.
The Jerk Chicken Kings of Jamaica
FAQ
Why do they call it jerk chicken?
What’s the difference between jerk chicken and regular chicken?
What is the main flavor of jerk chicken?
Why do people like jerk chicken?
What is jerk chicken?
Jerk chicken is a Caribbean dish featuring chicken marinated in the famous jerk sauce of Jamaica. The “jerk,” incidentally, is derived from “jerky,” a type of preserved meat, rather than a reference to a “jerk” as in an obnoxious person.
What is Jerk cooking?
The word jerk refers variously to the spice rub, a wet marinade and mop sauce made from it, and to the particular cooking technique. Jerk cooking has developed a global following, most notably in American, Canadian and Western European cosmopolitan urban centres.
Is Jerk Chicken Spicy?
A good jerk chicken is spicy however if you do not like spice, use mild seasonings. Traditional jerk chicken typically features chicken quarters, but the culinary creativity of Jamaica has led to variations that cater to diverse palates.
Where did jerk chicken come from?
The word jerk reportedly stems from the Spanish charqui, meaning dried strips of meat similar to the modern-day jerky. In Jamaica, jerk chicken is famous for its pungent marinade, marked by allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers, which are similar to habanero chili peppers. (Holes are usually poked into the meat to enable the marinade to spread.)