The jerk cooking technique as well as the seasoning have followed the Caribbean culture all over the world, and different versions of jerk can now be found all over the world. The term jerk can refer to the spice rub (jerk spices), the wet marinade (dry rub combined with fresh ingredients), as well as the particular cooking technique over pimento wood. This ingredient is largely responsible for the heat found in Jamaican jerk. One of the main additions to the recipe is the Scotch bonnet pepper. The Maroons used similar techniques in Africa but new local Jamaican ingredients were added or substituted over the years. The method helped tenderize as well as preserve the meat. They rubbed the meat with a paste composed of spices, onions, ginger, and chiles, which they slowly smoked over pimento fires in pits. To escape the potential British re-enslavement, these slaves known as the Maroons, fled to the Blue Mountains where they eventually lived with the local Taínos, one of the indigenous people of the Caribbean. When the British invaded the country in 1655, the Spanish fled, leaving behind the African slaves. Most of them eventually died and were replaced by African slaves. In 1492, when Columbus claimed Jamaica, he enslaved the Arawak indians. It was eaten as is or chopped and rehydrated in boiling water. Dried beef could easily be transported over long distance. At the time, the Arawaks used to smoke and dry meat under the sun or over a slow fire. Jamaica was settled more than 2500 years ago by the Arawak Indians from South America. Jerk could also have come from the flipping of the meat in the marinade. This word which is used to designate dried meat, eventually gave birth to the English word jerky.Īlso, jerking refers to the action of poking holes in the meat so that it can more easily absorb all the flavors of the marinade. The term jerk is believed to come from the Spanish word of Quechua origin, charqui. In addition to pimento berries (allspice) and pimento wood, you are also supposed to use dried pimento leaves in the jerk marinade, but these can also be replaced by bay leaves. An authentic jerk should be cooked over a low fire, over pimento wood chips. Along with pimento (allspice) and Scotch bonnet peppers, it is one of the unique flavors of jerk. Pimento wood is a fragrant tropical tree. Because of its resemblance to black peppercorn, European explorers who discovered allspice called it pimento. Pimento is originally a Spanish word used for pepper. The meat, typically pork or chicken, is marinated before it is smoked over pimento wood.
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