Jerk Chicken

Jerk chicken is chicken marinated in a bold blend of scotch bonnet chillies, allspice (known locally as pimento), thyme, scallion, garlic and warm spices, then cooked slowly over a smoky fire until charred and tender.

Traditionally it is grilled over pimento wood, which perfumes the meat with its distinctive smoke. The flavour is at once hot, herbal and deeply savoury. It is classically served with rice and peas, festival or fried plantain, and a wedge of lime.

The jerk technique is credited to the Maroons — communities of Africans who escaped enslavement and settled in Jamaica's rugged interior, blending African seasoning traditions with methods and ingredients of the island's Indigenous Taino people.

Smoking spiced meat allowed it to be cooked and preserved discreetly in the mountains. Today jerk is a cornerstone of Jamaican identity, sold from roadside drum grills across the island and celebrated wherever the Jamaican diaspora has settled.