Every country brings a stand-out dish to the table of world cuisine. The British contribute their afternoon tea and cake. The French the croissant. The Spanish bring paella.
The Jamaicans bring their trademark jerk chicken. Hot, spicy and packed full of sweet, smoky flavour. I love it.
As you can imagine, there are as many jerk chicken recipes as there are Jamaican kitchens. Each adapted, refined and perfected to suit the table and taste of the chef and their guests.
Here’s the recipe I use:
- Scotch bonnet pepper finely sliced (1 + according to taste)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 scallions diced
- 6 cloves garlic
- generous dash of soy sauce (to taste)
- a good splash of lemon juice (to taste)
- vinegar – I use Filipino cane vinegar (Datu Puti)
- tsp ginger
- tsp mixed spice
- tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground pimento (I use Dunn’s River)
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- tsp ground black pepper
- salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and marinade 1kg of chicken legs for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Use scotch bonnet peppers if you can get them rather than green chillis or chilli flakes. The Scotch bonnet has a reputation as a fiery hot chilli with a kick, but it adds a rich, deep flavour which other chillis can’t match. Start with one Scotch bonnet and move up to two or more if you dare !
The other must-have ingredient is the ground pimento, also known as AllSpice or Jamaican pepper. Its taste is a combination of warm cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and black pepper and it adds a deep, aromatic flavour to the chicken.
Barbecue, oven bake or air fry.
Enjoy.