Jamaican Jerk

Jamaican Jerk
Recipe Number: 1298
Contributor: charm

Serves:
Calories Per Serving:
Preparation Time:
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

allspice
Scotch bonnet peppers
thyme

garlic
brown sugar
green onions
soy sauce
lime juice
orange juice
rum
bay leaves
ginger
cloves
nutmeg
cinnamon
black pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Rub it In:
Pork and chicken are the two most traditional meats to jerk, but the seasoning is wonderful on beef, lamb and fish as well. If you want to do an all-day, slow-cooked barbeque, choose pork butt or whole chickens; for quick grilling, opt for boneless chicken, fish or pork loin. Whichever meat you choose, start by making shallow scores in the surface of it using a sharp knife, and then rub the seasoning paste thoroughly over the surface of the meat. If you're using skin-on chicken, be sure to rub the seasoning under the skin. Once again, it's a good idea to wear plastic or latex gloves while handling the seasoning. Wrap the meat tightly in plastic and refrigerate overnight to allow the spices to really permeate it.

True Jamaican jerk must be barbequed. The traditional way is to slow-roast the meat at a low temperature for several hours over a fire fueled by allspice branches, which give a sweet and spicy smoke flavor to the meat. You may be hard-put to find allspice branches in your area, but you can use any kind of hardwood chips to add to the flavor of your jerk barbeque. First prepare your grill for indirect heat, then place a drip pan underneath the spot where you're going to be laying the meat.
Create billows of rich, sweet smoke by soaking your favorite food-friendly wood chips in a bowl of water for 30 minutes or so, and then sprinkle them liberally over the hot coals just before putting the meat on the grill

Serving Suggestions:

The left column ingredients are what make the jerk authentic. The allspice berry, also known as "Jamaica pepper" is native to the island and has a rich, spicy flavor reminiscent of a mingling of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Scotch bonnet peppers are small, orange, wrinkly, and hot, hot, hot! They are, in fact, among the hottest chiles you can get and they bring on that trademark eye-watering euphoria that jerked meats are famous for. Thyme is widely used in Caribbean cooking and adds complexity to the flavor of the meat.

The right column ingredients are all optional, to be included as desired.

Additional Comments:

Jamaican jerk . The word jerk refers to a seasoning blend, a cooking method, and to the meat that has been treated to the jerk seasoning and cooking processes. Jerk was first created by the Arawak Indians, the original natives of Jamaica. The liberal amounts of indigenous spices and peppers preserved meats in the island heat, and also made them taste delicious when cooked over an open fire. Some people think that the term "jerk" came from the Spanish term "charqui" which means dried meat, and others think that the word refers to the jerking motion of turning the meat as it roasts over the fire.
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