Jerk Chicken

Jamaica

About Jerk Chicken

Jerk Chicken is Jamaica's famous spicy grilled chicken. The meat is marinated in a hot, aromatic paste of Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice (called pimento in Jamaica), thyme, scallions, garlic and other spices, then grilled slowly over a smoky fire.

The jerk tradition goes back to the Taíno people and the Maroons, Africans who escaped slavery and lived in Jamaica's mountains. They developed a way of seasoning and slowly smoking meat, which also helped preserve it.

Traditionally, jerk is cooked over pimento wood, which adds a distinctive smoky flavor. Jerk chicken is sold at roadside stands and "jerk centers" across Jamaica, often cooked in steel-drum grills, and is served with hard dough bread, rice and peas or festival dumplings.

Ingredients

• chicken
• Scotch bonnet peppers
• allspice
• thyme
• garlic
• soy sauce
• pimento wood