Traditional Jamaican Recipes & Food

The flavors of Jamaica are the product of the island’s history combined with a verdant, lush climate. The Spanish, British, African and East Indian have all had an influence over what is today a unique island cuisine made colorful by the many tropical fruits that thrive here.

The waters off Jamaica have always teemed with fish and seafood is the primary protein source for islanders. Snapper, grouper, sea bass and other reef a deep sea fish are caught daily by the many fishermen whose boats line the beaches. Spiny lobster, shrimp and freshwater crustaceans are readily available and cooked usually in a thick sauce. Chicken and goats are well suited to the small mountainous island and are kept by many families but cattle are rare and beef is not the predominant meat.

Many of Jamaica’s fruits, including pineapple, mango, banana and avocado were brought to the region by slave traders and plantation owners experimenting with crops. What were once sugar cane fields are now being used to grow fruits and ackee for export and domestic use.

Few other cuisines mix such a range of spices and tastes – sweet, hot and savory – as Jamaican cooking. Jamaican food wouldn’t be the same without the spices, seasonings and colors from: Allspice, the pimento berry.

Among many of the spices grown in Jamaica are nutmeg, ginger, thyme, scotch bonnet peppers, which are integral distinct flavors of Jamaican cooking. The pungent thyme grows rampantly on the island and is found in the majority of Jamaican foods.

Favourite Jamaican foods are those for coconut cake, rum punch & beef jerky recipies.

Real Jamaican food, when cooked with feeling, is a soul-satisfying experience.

For further tips and ideas for cooking great and traditional food from around the world, visit Jamaican Recipes

This article was submitted by Jen Carter, owner of the World Recipes website.

Weight Loss Recipe: Avocado Walnut & Crispy Bacon Salad

Losing weight doesn’t have to be boring when you focus on bright, colourful meals. What does this mean? Simply by making sure your plate reflects a range of colours, you’ll naturally create more balanced and healthful menus. Not everyone has the time or the patience to count calories, but assessing the colours on your plate is something anyone can do – and it only takes an instant!

Why is colour important? Many fatty and caloric foods, such as dairy products and startchy carbs, are beige or brown. When there are too many of these drab colours on your plate, weight gain is almost certain.

That’s because these beige foods often are high in calories and can leave you feeling hungry later. A cup of beige or brown beans can be over 200 calories….but a cup of red or green vegetables is under a hundred! Add fresh greens, deep purple-reds and bright yellow-orange to a meal, and water the nutrient content go up, while calories go down! Plus, you’ll get more enjoyment from eating when there’s a variety of colours and flavors on your plate.

Although these ideas may sound whimsical, they’re grounded in scientific fact. Dr David Heber, renowned nutritional expert from University of California, Los Angeles established the role of colour in his book, “What Color is Your Diet?” So, next time you visit the refrigerator, think colorfully. And remember to mix, not match!

To get you started on the color plate, here is a deliciously interesting salad: Avocado, Walnut & Crispy Bacon.

Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 8 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
7oz/200 g rindless bacon, chopped
ฝ cup walnut haves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
ผ cup fresh lime juice
sale and ground black pepper
6oz/150g baby spinach, trimmed and washed
3 ripe Roma (egg) tomatoes, diced
1 large ripe avocado, halved, peeled, seed removed and sliced
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced

Directions:
1. Heat a non-tick frying pay over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside to cool.

2. Add walnuts to pan and cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate and set aside.

3. Add oil and lime juice to pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.

4. Combine spinach, tomatoes, avocado, onion, bacon and walnuts in a large serving bowl. Pour warm lime dressing over salad and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Grandmas Fruitcake

This is the recipe that my grandmother brought with her when she and her family left Russia in the early 1900″s.
As a child around 1920’s or so, while living on a farm in Pennsylvania which at that time there were a great amount of people who came from Europe, you needed to be able to do for yourself, she learned from her mother how to make a most delicious white fruit cake, a white fruitcake is a fruitcake that does not have any molasses, molasses which is very bitter, not having the molasses in the fruitcake gives it a lighter color, this gives it the name white fruitcake.

This fruitcake in the days in which my mother lived as a child with her parents this was only made during Christmas because the only time you could get walnuts, cherries, and some other ingredients was in the fall of the year, remember now they didn’t go to the store to buy what they needed, they had to grow them, raisins were dried by the people themselves, they even had to shell their own walnuts, and candy their own cherries, and such the pineapple and coconut I do believe they must have purchased.

To keep with tradition the only time of the year that I make or sell this fruitcake is during the Christmas holidays, and In my mind you cannot get a better fruitcake. Here we go now gather up your ingredients and set them on your table, all ingredients need to be at room temperature.

1 pound butter
12 eggs
1 lb. sugar
1 pound flour
1 pound white raisins
1 pound walnut meats
1 lb. red and green candied cherries
1 lb. bakers flaked coconut
1 lb. candies pineapple
1 tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in ผ cup warm water
2 cups brandy–any brand

Soak the raisins, walnuts, cherries, coconut and pineapple with 2 cups brandy overnight in a stainless steel bowl.
In a 5 quart mixing bowl cream butter and sugar, then add eggs slowly, then add your flour and blend well, add the baking soda and water and mix a minute more, add all other ingredients and mix until well blended.
Now you are going to bake it in a 2 pound pan, or in the pan of your choice, foil or hard pan, line the pan with wax paper or baking paper or better yet a pan liner the size of the pan. For a 2 pound pan, Place 1 pound 12 ounces of the mixture in the pan and level it with a spoon, don’t bang it on the table. Bake it in a 350 degree preheated oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes, depends on your oven and how brown you want it.
It’s done when a pick is placed in the center and it comes out clean. Let it cool on a rack for a while and then sprinkle it with 1 ounce of brandy and then another ounce when it is cool and then pack it away for about 3 days in your refrigerator and then “enjoy it”.

‘Waitress’ Bakes Up Pie To Die For

Waitress is about a woman named Jenna who is depressed from her marriage to a terrible husband, as well as her lifelong loneliness. Again and again, she finds herself trapped in the abusive relationship, partly due to financial struggles. To her further dismay, she finds out she is pregnant with her husband’s child. The only outlet through which she feels comfortable sharing her emotions is by baking pies. She even names pies after her feelings while inventing them. After a series of life-changing events, she eventually finds exactly what she has been looking for in the baby she resented all along. She cuts off ties from everything in her old life and “starts fresh,” keeping only one thing the same: her love and passion for making pies.

Here are five of her wonderful pie recipes:

Marshmallow Mermaid Pie

9 graham crackers
1/2 C. sweetened, flaked coconut, toasted
5 Tbs. butter or margarine, melted
34 lg. marshmallows (8 oz.)
1/2 C. whole milk
1 1/2 C. heavy or whipping cream
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine coconut and graham crackers in food processor until coarse crumbs form. Combine crumbs and butter with fork. Press to bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes and cool on wire rack. Heat marshmallows and milk in 3-qt. saucepan over low heat until smooth, stirring constantly. Remove saucepan from heat. Cool completely (30 minutes.) In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Fold marshmallow mixture into whipped cream with grated chocolate. Spoon filling into cooled crust. Refrigerate pie at least 3 hours or overnight. Top with mini marshmallows, maraschino cherries and rainbow sprinkles.

Falling in Love Chocolate Mousse Pie

9-inch baked pastry shell
1 14-oz. can condensed milk (not evaporated)
2/3 C. water
1 (4 serving) pkg. chocolate pudding mix (not instant)
1 1-oz. square unsweetened chocolate
2 C. (1 pt.) whipping cream, stiffly whipped

In large saucepan, combine condensed milk, water and pudding mix; mix well. Add chocolate. Over medium heat, cook and stir rapidly until chocolate melts and mixture thickens. Remove from heat; beat until smooth. Cool. Chill thoroughly; stir. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared pastry shell. Chill 4 hours until set.

I Don’t Want Earl’s Baby Pie

1 pie crust
4 Tbs. butter
3 slices ham
8 green onions
1 C. brie cheese
1 C. parmesan cheese, grated
4 eggs
2 C. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover pie crust with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes more. Remove crust and reduce heat to 325 degrees. Julienne ham. Chop green onions. In skillet, saute ham until brown. Remove and set aside. Saute onion until tender. Remove with slotted spoon and combine with ham. Spread on bottom of pie crust. Spread brie over ham mixture and sprinkle with parmesan. Combine eggs, cream and nutmeg; pour over cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until set. Cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve.

Baby Screamin’ Its Head Off In The Middle of the Night & Ruinin’ My Life Pie

4 8-oz. cream cheese, softened
1 C. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 C. sour cream
1/2 C heavy whipping cream
1 3/4 C. white sugar
1/8 . cornstarch
1 fl. oz. amaretto liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 C. chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap outside of 9-inch springform pan with foil. Generously butter inside of pan. In large bowl,beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in sugar and cornstarch. Blend in sour cream and whipping cream. Add amaretto and vanilla. Stir in eggs and egg yolk one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition. Pour batter into pan. Place pan in another pan at least 1 inch wider and add water to outside pan (prevents cracks). Bake on center rack for 70 minutes. Turn oven off and let cool with door open for 1 hour. Remove cake from water and chill at least 3 hours before removing cake from pan. Top with crushed pecans and dust with nutmeg.

I Can’t Have No Affair Because It’s Wrong & I Don’t Want Earl to Kill Me Pie

2 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. melted butter
2 large eggs
1/3 C. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. milk, scalded
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 egg whites
1/2 C. white sugar

Mix crumbs, brown sugar and butter until well-blended. Press mixture into a 9-inch pan. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat eggs slightly in a large bowl. Add sugar and salt. Slowly stir in hot, scalded milk. Add vanilla. Strain mixture into pie crust. Sprinkle top with cinnamon. Bake on lower shelf 25-30 minutes, or until custard is firm. In larger glass mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/4 C. white sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie after custard is set, return to oven until meringue is slightly brown. Cool 15 minutes.