Food and Cuisine

Going to Jamaica? Prepare to give your taste buds a treat! Eating in Jamaica provides the perfect escape from the expected, the bland and the boring.  Jamaican cuisine, like its music has become internationalized. But nothing beats the real thing, in the real place, with the right vibes.  Food, Jamaica style reflects the admixture of cultures that makes for a unique culinary experience. 

The gentle Tainos, the first Jamaicans, cooked on charcoal, providing early barbecuing techniques.  The Spaniards brought their seasoning – hot pepper and vinegar.  Three hundred years of English rule and lavish entertainment in Jamaican plantation houses left a tradition of tables weighed down by meats and sweets. African ancestors, resilient and resourceful, taught the art of the one-pot meal, the creation of wonderful combinations from the bounty of the land, and the joy of sharing, regardless of tough times.

Indentured Asiatics and other migrants added the Jamaican melting pot.  Jerked meats perfected by the Maroons high in the mountains of the Cockpit Country, curried goat,  rice and peas, salt fish and ackee, mackerel in a coconut “run-down” are but a sampling of Jamaican favourites.  Food festivals abound. 

There is the Jerk Festival in beautiful Portland and Yam festival in Trelawny, home parish of sprint sensation Usain Bolt. The Shrimp festival on the untamed South coast has its following as do festivals featuring Fish and cassava bammy cakes and the breadfruit, introduced to the island by Captain Bligh of “Bounty” fame. Nor can one forget Jamaica’s renowned coffee and liquor brands. For a great epicurean experience at bargain prices don't miss the annual Restaurant Week in Kingston, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios when "foodies" can restaurant hop and indulge in fine dining at discount prices.