Recipe Note
What is Jerk Spice? A Piece of the Caribbean.
Close your eyes and feel the radiant tropical sun caressing your cheeks, the warm sand under your bare feet, and the smell of the most exciting food the Caribbean has to offer. That’s the very essence of jerk spice.
You might have enjoyed Jamaican jerk chicken in the past, the juiciest and spiciest, nicely charred chicken cooked on an open flame. Well, this is just a drop in the bucket. Jerk spices are as versatile as they are tasty. There are many ways of making the most out of this comforting blend, and with Spice Masters Jerk Spice Blend, cooking with jerk is easier than ever.
Here’s all you need to know about jerk spice and how to cook with it. If you’re all about rustic curries, barbecues and cooking with fire, jerk spice is a must in your cabinet.
The History of Jerk Spice
Jerk seasoning is a traditional combination of hot peppers, herbs and spices traditionally used throughout the Caribbean islands. Jerk seasoning, though, is more than a spice blend, it’s a cooking style.
Jerking food is a traditional term in Jamaica and was first used to talk about drying meat, in fact making jerky. Still, we now use the term for the unique spices that give life to dishes like jerk chicken.
Jerk spices have their origin in Jamaica. As European merchants brought African slaves to the Caribbean islands to work the fields, a merger of cultures evolved in what we now know as the traditional Caribbean cuisine.
Some slaves escaped the plantations and ran into the dense jungle. These were called Maroons, and they survived by hunting and cooking their food on an open flame.
Of course, to preserve food, the Maroons jerked the meat with herbs and spices to dry it and extend its shelf-life. This allowed pork and poultry cooked jerk-style to gain an unmistakable scent we know recognise as jerk flavours.
Smoky, spicy, sweet and aromatic, jerk spices soon became popular amongst the locals, even European settlers. Now, jerk is one of Jamaica’s national treasures, along with reggae music. Cooking with jerk takes you to the Caribbean and back with every bite. Let’s explore the uses of jerk spices.
How to Use Jerk Spice?
Jerk spice is the ultimate dry rub for grilled chicken. There’s no doubt jerk chicken is the most famous expression of the spice blend. Still, jerk spices are more than a great way to flavour chicken.
Rub pork and red meat with jerk spices. Fish is terrific when dabbed with jerk spices — spicy fish is a wonderful hearty lunch. Use jerk spices like a dry rub, especially when grilling, pan-frying or roasting your protein. Grilled vegetables and skewers also benefit from jerk’s spicy personality.
Perhaps our favourite way of using jerk spices is making a rustic curry but intensely flavourful and spicy curry. This is one curry you don’t want to miss.
Jerk Spices, Explained
Jerk spices are spicy but balanced. The combination of sugar, hot peppers, herbs and spices creates a harmonious mix that really elevates food’s flavour.
1. Brown Sugar
Brown sugar is a critical ingredient in jerk spices. For starters, sugar cane was the most significant crop in the Caribbean for centuries. Of course, the sweetness in sugar balances the heat.
2. Allspice
Allspice is another quintessential Caribbean spice. When the European colonists discovered this unique dried berry, they found it tasted like many spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
3. Black Pepper
Black pepper is a shrivelled fruit and not a pepper, and its use is universal. Black pepper is native to India, but it has been traded throughout Asia, Europe and Africa since ancient times. It arrived in the Caribbean during the Colonial era.
4. Garlic
The aromatic bulb lifts jerk spices, giving them warmth and aromatic complexity. Garlic serves as a base for much more complex flavours and aromas.
5. Celery Salt
Salt enhances other flavours in the spice blend; celery salt is milder and rounder than regular salt; it blends better with other spices.
6. Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper is a spicy condiment. Powdered dried hot peppers with noticeable heat. Cayenne pepper can be traced back to the Colonial Era and was, without a doubt, one of the first hot spices to reach Europe and Africa.
7. Thyme
We have used the classic Mediterranean herb since the Ancient Egyptians. The aromatic, thin leaves give fragrance and freshness to jerk spice. Jamaica adopted thyme as their own.
8. Paprika
Spicy or sweet, smoked bell peppers are ground to a fine powder to give colour, aromatics and flavour to many dishes around the globe. This is one of the main colouring agents in jerk spices.
9. Nutmeg
This brown spice is warm and comforting and provides soothing aromas to anything cooked with jerk spices. Although native to Indonesia, the Caribbean shares climate with Southeast Asian countries.
10. Oregano
The earthy and herbal Mediterranean spice made its way to the Americas with the first European travellers. It’s now part of every cuisine in the new continent. From the Caribbean to Mexico.
11. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a fragrant brown spice that comes from unique tree bark. It has been used in sweet and savoury concoctions for centuries.
12. Clove
Cloves are dried flowers from Indonesia, and they’re incredibly intense. Just a few cloves give life to our jerk spice blend to balance its heat.
13. Cumin
These famous dried seeds are members of the parsley family. Not to be confused with caraway, cumin seeds are warmer in taste and more aromatic. Cumin helps balance our jerk spice for a versatile condiment.
Warm and Comfy, That’s Jerk Spice
Jerk spices take you places; they really make your food smell and taste exotic and exciting. Caribbean flavours and more than spicy, they’re festive!
Anything cooked with jerk spices is instantly a meal for special occasions, especially if you play reggae in the background. What is your favourite way to use jerk spices? We’d love to know!
