Jamaican cuisine was created by the first settlers of the island.

There are many items and recipes that were generated by the Arawaks, the British, the Spanish, the Africans (who were brought to Jamaica as slaves), the Indians, the Jews, the Chinese, and other Caribbean islanders among the settlers.

These foods were prepared using various cooking styles known only to them and were adopted by subsequent generations.

Most, if not all, meals were cooked on an old-fashioned coal stove, and baked goods were produced in a brick oven.

Modern cooking methods and updates have now been applied and that doesn’t change the way we prepare our meals or alter the taste in any obvious way.

Let me give you an idea of ​​where our Jamaican cuisine comes from.

Story behind the food

Long before the brick kiln and coal stove, although there was a device called “barbecue” which was a wooden grate supported by four forked sticks placed over a slow fire. This was what the Arawak Indians used to grill meat and fish. This was the barbecue grill of its time. The process is now perfected and the cured or cooked meat is what we now know as the famous “jerk”.

This goes for today’s chicken, pork, fish, and sausages.

Our motto is “Of a lot of people” but I would like to say that the Arawaks had something to do with the influence of the motto. My reason for saying this is because they also brought a soup pot in which meat, fish and vegetables were cooked together for what we know today as “soup”. That is why I would like to say that the Arawaks had him as “Of many a pot”.

They also brought corn, sweet potato, callaloo, beans, guava, pineapple, papaya (or more commonly known as papaya), fish, conis, iguanas, crabs, and yuca (which they used to make bread). Therefore, your contribution to the ingredients we now use in our Jamaican cuisine is invaluable.

Now, the Spanish arrived in Jamaica in the year 1494 and some 150 years after their arrival they brought with them additional foods such as cattle, pigs, goats, horses and animal fat lard.

They were also great contributors of trees and fruits such as Seville and Valencia oranges, lime, lemon, tamarind, ginger, pomegranate, date palm, banana, coconut, grape, fig, sugar and banana.

These items added another great variety to our cuisine and popular dishes such as pescado escobado and pea and bean dishes originated in Spain.

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