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Whether you’re a foodie looking to explore new tastes or simply curious about Jamaican culture, the island’s cuisine is sure to satisfy your cravings and leave you wanting more.
If you’re wondering about what food is Jamaica known for, this post is for you.
Table of Contents
Here are a few ‘Jamaica Food Facts’ before our list of the best foods from Jamaica.
Jamaica’s national dish is made with the yellow flesh of ackee fruit, sauteed with onions, peppers, tomatoes, chillis, garlic, various spices, and salted codfish.
This Jamaican dish is served at breakfast, with crispy fried dumplings, coleslaw or hardo bread, a slightly sweet, dense Jamaican hard dough bread loaf.
Curry goat is a popular dish in Jamaican cuisine that consists of goat meat cooked in a rich and fragrant curry sauce, typically served with rice and peas.
Goat meat is first marinated in a mixture of spices and herbs, then browned before being simmered in a curry sauce made from a blend of spices such as turmeric, cumin, coriander, and fenugreek.
The curry sauce is typically made with coconut milk, which adds a creamy texture and sweetness to the dish, as well as onions, tomatoes, and Scotch bonnet peppers, which give it a spicy kick.
Curry goat is a staple dish in the list of foods from Jamaica to try.
This list of the best foods from Jamaica would only exist with this dish featured here. Jerk chicken would have to be the most well-known Jamaican dish.
Many would say that it’s one of the traditional foods from Jamaica. So, why is it so popular?
Spicy, full of flavour, and delicious! It’s made by marinating chicken in a unique blend of spices and herbs (jerk seasoning), including allspice, thyme, and scotch bonnet peppers to add heat.
The secret to traditional Jamaican jerk chicken is grilling it over an open flame until it’s crispy and juicy.
The result is a mouthwatering combination of sweet and spicy flavours that will leave you wanting more.
You can only leave the island once you grab a cold Red Stripe (local Jamaican beer) and dig into some tasty jerk chicken!
Beef patties are a popular snack and street food in Jamaica. The savoury pastry contains a spiced mixture of ground beef and onions.
Beef patties are sold at bakeries, convenience stores, and street food vendors in Jamaica and eaten as a quick and satisfying snack on the go.
Jamaican curry chicken is an aromatic dish of tender chicken pieces cooked in a rich and delicious curry sauce made with a blend of Jamaican spices.
The curry sauce for Jamaican curry typically includes a mix of curry powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk, which adds a creamy texture and a touch of sweetness. As expected in Jamaican cuisine, adding scotch bonnet peppers gives the dish a spicy kick.
This comforting dish is served with rice and peas or boiled potatoes and carrots.
A classic Jamaican dish packed with flavour!
It begins with pork marinated in a spicy mixture of herbs and spices, including allspice, ginger, thyme, garlic, and scotch bonnet peppers. The marinade helps tenderise the meat and infuse it with flavour and aroma.
After marinating, the pork is typically cooked over an open flame or on a grill until it’s tender, juicy, and slightly charred outside. The addition of scotch bonnet peppers gives the dish a fiery kick and a unique flavour that is distinctively Jamaican.
The dish is typically served with rice and peas, roasted vegetables, or a side of plantains. It’s a popular dish in other Caribbean nations and one of the best foods from Jamaica to enjoy.
Rice and peas are a staple side dish in Jamaican cuisine prepared by cooking white rice with kidney beans and coconut milk.
The rice is flavoured with garlic, thyme, spring onions, and scotch bonnet peppers and is eaten with many foods from Jamaica, such as Jerk chicken, curry goat and fish dishes.
A favourite Jamaican pastry that is soft, slightly sweet, and made with coconut milk. The bread is often eaten as a side dish or used to make sandwiches, particularly with Jamaican-style patties.
The bread is often baked until golden brown and has a fluffy texture that pairs well with savoury fillings.
Callaloo is a popular vegetable dish in Jamaica and other Caribbean nations. It is prepared from a variety of leafy greens, such as taro leaves or dasheen, as well as other vegetables like onions, peppers, okra, and garlic.
To prepare callaloo, the vegetables are first washed and chopped, then sautéed in oil or butter until they are tender.
The mixture is then seasoned with herbs and spices and coconut milk, and salted meat or fish may also be added for additional flavour.
Callaloo can be served as a side dish or as a main course, accompanied by rice, bread, or other starches.
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Jamaican Cabbage is a staple side dish in Jamaican cuisine. It is prepared by sauteing shredded cabbage with familiar Jamaican seasonings and spices including garlic, thyme, onions, and scotch bonnet peppers.
Some variations of the recipe may also include other vegetables, such as carrots or capsicum, to add colour and texture to the dish.
“Run Down” is a traditional Jamaican dish made by simmering salted fish, usually cod or mackerel, in a sauce made with coconut milk, tomatoes, onions, and peppers.
The fish is cooked until it becomes tender and falls apart, giving the sauce a thick and creamy consistency.
The name “run down” comes from how the sauce is prepared – the ingredients are slowly cooked over low heat until they break down (or ‘run down’) and blend to create a rich and flavorful sauce – and seasoned with thyme, garlic, and other herbs and spices, which give it a unique and delicious taste.
Run down is often served with boiled green bananas, yams, or dumplings and is one of the popular breakfast foods from Jamaica.
A staple in Jamaican cuisine. Brown Stew chicken is made by marinating chicken pieces in a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and other seasonings and searing the chicken in a hot pan until it is browned and crispy.
Then, the chicken simmers in a sauce made with onions, tomatoes, capsicums, and more herbs and spices like thyme, allspice, and Scotch bonnet peppers.
The sauce is simmered until thick and fragrant, and the chicken is tender.
The final result is a rich, tasty chicken stew that is slightly sweet, and a little spicy.
Jamaican brown stew chicken is often served with rice and peas, fried plantains, or vegetables and is a beloved comfort food in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.
Johnny cakes are a traditional Jamaican pastry similar to a small, dense biscuit or bread roll. The cakes are made with a simple dough, typically made from flour, baking powder, salt, and water or milk.
The dough is kneaded and rolled into small balls, then flattened into a circular shape and cooked on a grill or in a frying pan until golden brown and crispy outside.
The finished Johnny cakes are served warm with butter, jam, or other toppings.
Johnny cakes are popular breakfast foods from Jamaica and pair well with coffee or tea. They are also popular street food; find them at local markets and food stalls throughout the island.
Sweet potato pudding is a traditional Jamaican food of the dessert kind.
This sweet pudding consists of grated sweet potatoes, coconut milk, spices, and other ingredients.
The texture of the pudding is dense and moist, with a rich and complex flavour that is a perfect balance of sweet and spicy. It’s best eaten warm as a dessert or a breakfast dish.
Rum cake is a favoured dessert in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean.
It is a moist and decadent cake flavoured with rum and often filled with dried fruits and nuts. It is usually soaked in a rum glaze, adding even more flavour and moisture to the cake.
Rum cake is a beloved dessert in Jamaica and a popular souvenir for tourists on the island. You can find it in many local bakeries and markets, so be sure to indulge in some Jamaican rum cake before you leave.
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We visited many Caribbean Island nations on our journey to visit every country. Our recap of the Caribbean islands and countries visited in 2019 may offer some good tips to help you plan your visit too.
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3 Comments. Leave new
Curry goat is NOT first browned then cooked in a curry sauce with coconut milk. That is not the technique used. In fact, Curry powder is first roasted in hot oil to release the flavors then the seasoned goat milk added directly to the curry oil to simmer and release its own juices. Some water may be added later along with more fresh seasonings for the hour to hour and a half long cooking time. Coconut milk is NOT typical or traditional. Some persons do add it but this would be the minority.
Thanks for letting us know your method for cooking Curry goat. Like many recipes, there is more than one way to prepare and cook a dish. My Jamaican friends tell me that coconut milk is popular in Jamaican cooking, a staple in their kitchen even, so it’s interesting that you are saying the opposite. Either way, Curry Goat is a great dish and I encourage everyone to try it.
I loved how you talked about Jamaican cabbage and how this is essentially cabbage sauteed with Jamaican seasoning. It looks a lot like the stir-fried cabbage that I make every Friday. Hopefully, this is available in Jamaican restaurants so I can try and see what the difference is.