Wednesday, August 8, 2012

A Look Into Jamaican Food

By Neva Fishback


A cursory look into its rich and diverse past will give all of us a solid idea of just how Jamaican food has been able to come to be such a unique blend of ethnicities. The roots of Jamaican cuisine can be traced back to the peace-loving Arawak Indians, who actually named their exotic haven Xaymaca, or "the Land of Wood and Water".

These people were thought to be one of the first people that barbecued their foods, which involves grilling various meats over wood, giving the meat an extra smoky flavour from the wood.

Even so, the impact of the indigenous people was limited by the fact that the Spanish took over the region and also enslaved the locals in the early sixteenth century. Even so, along with the oppressors, emerged a brand new collection of dishes, the most famous of which incorporated the vinegary escovitched fish created by the Spanish Jews.

As the native populace started to dwindle in numbers because of the severe methods of slavery, the Spanish started to import African-american slaves to improve their labor force. The African eating habits played an important role in forming Jamaican foods, several of the basic ingredients were introduced by the African slaves, such as okra, ackee, saltfish, mangoes, and yams.

In fact, the most popular Jamaican food, jerk, comes from the Western African Coromantee Tribe. Jerking consists of marinating meat such as chicken, beef, seafood etc. in a spicy mixture made of pimento, pepper, thyme, sugar-cinnamon, brown sugar, lemon juice, onions, cayenne pepper, and soy sauce, then barbecuing it slowly.

In 1655, the English acquired the area from the Spanish, carrying with them common English meals. One combination meal that continues to be well-known right up until this present day is definitely the Jamaican patty, which is a turnover that has a spicy meat filling.

But that's definitely not the only influence that the English exerted to Jamaican food. During the early nineteenth century, slavery was in fact abolished, necessitating the transfer of indentured servants from China as well as Eastern India.

Chinese People brought along with them rice, mustard and chili peppers, making Jamaican food stand out even within the Caribbean. The Indians, on the other hand, unveiled their famous curry spices or herbs and the captivating notion that practically anything can be curried. Goat curry is an especially quirky curry that is famous in Jamaica, however, you will find a number of other curried meats also.




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