Traditions with jerk seasoning

Jerk is a Jamaican seasoning and a method of cooking, in which meat is rubbed with a paste of allspice, scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, scallion and spices, and slowly smoked over pimento wood. The style comes from the Maroons, descendants of escaped slaves who hid in the mountains and combined Indigenous Taino and African techniques. It is a food of the roadside, the beach and the weekend gathering, and a symbol of Jamaica. These pages describe where it is made and what it means.

Where it is used

In Jamaica, jerk chicken and pork are sold from oil-drum grills along the road, and Boston Bay in Portland is the home of jerk. Jamaican communities in Britain, Canada and the United States celebrate it, from the Notting Hill Carnival to street festivals. The seasoning is also used on fish, sausage and vegetables, and in sauces sold worldwide. A festival of jerk is held each year in Portland, Jamaica.

What it means

Jerk is a food of resistance and identity, reflecting the history of the Maroons, who preserved their independence. Cooking it takes hours, and a gathering around the grill, with music and Red Stripe beer, is social and festive. Cooks are proud of their own paste, which is rarely written down, and each says that theirs is the best. It is one of the island's best-known exports and a point of national pride.