Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated
with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning is traditionally
applied to pork and chicken. Modern recipes also apply jerk spice mixes to fish, shrimp,
shellfish, beef, sausage, lamb, and tofu. Jerk seasoning principally relies upon two
items: allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers. Other ingredients include cloves, cinnamon,
scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, and salt.
Etymology The term jerk is said to come from the word
charqui, a Spanish term of Quechua origin for jerked or dried meat, which eventually
became jerky in English. The term jerk spice refers to a spice rub.
The word jerk refers to both the spice rub and to the particular cooking technique. Jerk
can be applied as a cooking method for many different types of proteins, including goat,
chicken, pork, fish, shellfish, tofu, and others. Jerk cooking has developed a following
in US and Western European cosmopolitan urban centers with Caribbean/West Indian communities.
Origins One theory is that Jamaican jerk sauce is
actually African since the origins of jerk pork can be traced back to the pre-slavery
days of the Coromantee hunters of West Africa. When the British invaded Jamaica in 1655 the
Spanish colonists fled, leaving behind a large number of African slaves. Rather than be re-enslaved
by the British, they escaped into Jamaica's mountainous regions where they mixed in with
the local Taínos. Though Jamaican jerk sauce certainly was derived
from African ancestry, it is something that was adapted and modified over hundreds of
years as various cultures added their influence. From the start, changes had to be made since
the Coromantee slaves found themselves in new surroundings on the island of Jamaica
and were forced to use what was available to them.
As a result, there was naturally a departure from some of the original spices used in jerk
and new ingredients were added or substituted as necessary. One new addition to the recipe
was the Scotch bonnet pepper, which is largely responsible for the heat found in Caribbean
jerks. Techniques
The cooking technique of jerking, as well as the results it produces, has evolved over
time from using pit fires to old oil barrel halves as the container of choice. Around
the 1960s, Caribbean entrepreneurs seeking to recreate the smoked pit flavor in an easier,
more portable method came up with a solution to cut oil barrels lengthwise and attach hinges,
drilling several ventilation holes for the smoke. These barrels are fired with charcoal,
which enhances the spicy, smoky taste. Alternatively, when these cooking methods aren't available,
other methods of meat smoking, including wood burning ovens, can be used to jerk meat. However,
oil barrels are arguably one of the most popular cooking methods for making jerk in Jamaica.
Most jerk in Jamaica is no longer cooked in the traditional method and is grilled over
hardwood charcoal in a steel drum jerk pan. Street-side jerk stands or jerk centers are
frequently found in Jamaica and the nearby Cayman Islands, as well as throughout the
Caribbean diaspora and beyond. Jerked meat, usually chicken or pork, can be purchased
along with hard dough bread, deep fried cassava bammy, Jamaican fried dumplings, and festival,
a variation of sweet flavored fried dumplings made with sugar and served as a side.
Modern day Jerk cooking and seasoning has followed the
Caribbean diaspora all over the world, and forms of jerk can now be found at restaurants
almost anywhere a significant population of Caribbean descent exists, such as the United
Kingdom, Canada, or the United States. French Caribbean's "Poulet boucané" is quite similar
to traditional Jamaican jerk chicken. In the TV show Death in Paradise Series 3,
episode 4, Camille's mother Catherine serves Poulet boucané as a treat to D.I. Humphrey
Goodman, who eats the pepper not realising it is only for flavour.
References
Cook, Ian and Harrison, Michelle. "Cross over Food: Re-Materializing Postcolonial Geographies".
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 296–317.
Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society