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Month: March 2011
Out of Many, One: The Outameni Experience
My cousin and her husband kept raving about this place he said they knew I would love. But they wouldn’t say what it was or why they were so sure I’d love it.
I was curious.
We loaded up the car and headed north east from Montego Bay towards Trelawny. Once at the sign to the Outameni Experience, we turned off the road.
So this is where we were going!
Outameni, the Jamaican lingo for Out of Many (as in Out of Many, One People – the Jamaican motto) is an interactive look back at Jamaica’s history from the time of the indigenous people, the Arawak or Taino, as they’re now called, through the present.
Our entertained us with mento dancing and storytelling while we waited for the tour to begin.
Each period is represented by its own display with guides in period dress narrating the story of that time.
The Taino arrived in Jamaica around 650 A.D. from South America. They were said to be peaceful people who planted cassava, corn, sweet potato and got most of their food from the sea. When Columbus arrived in 1492, it was the Taino who greeted him. Unfortunately, within a few years of his arrival, the Tainos in Jamaca were exterminated. It is said that some killed themselves rather than be put to work by the Spanish, others died after coming into contact with European diseases for which they had no immunity.
Christopher Columbus and his merry band of sailors stumbled upon Jamaica on May 5, 1494 on his second voyage on behalf of the King of Spain. Thus began the period of Spanish settlements in Jamaica which lasted until the British took over in 1655.
The first Africans in Jamaica came as servants of Spanish settlers. These were freed when the British took over Jamaica in 1655. As sugar production exploded, Africans were again brought to the island, this time to work on the plantations.
Nearly 40,000 Indians were brought to Jamaica beginning in 1845 as indentured workers to work in the sugar cane industry after slavery was abolished. Many were repatriated but far many remained. Today, their descendants make up the second largest racial group in Jamaica.
The Chinese began coming to Jamaica in the 1845 to work on sugar cane plantations. Today, they make up the majority of the merchant class.
The Outameni Experience ends with Jamaica today, a vibrant country that approximately 2 million people – African, Indian, Chinese, Jewish, Lebanese, Scottish, German, Cuban, Haitian, American, Canadian and Latin American – call home.
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Tasty Thursday: Ackee and Saltfish (Cod)
This dish has won me friends and lovers each time I serve it.
Every Jamaican I know either has an ackee tree out back or ackees in the freezer. And the ones “a foreign” have a can or two in the pantry and/or frozen ones they or someone brought back from Jamaica for them.
Ackee is a very popular and versatile dish. Serve on toasted bread for a tasty bruschetta or ackee and saltfish sandwich. Add a little curry to sauteed onions and peppers then mix in ackee for delicious curried ackee (no saltfish needed).
What’s ackee and saltfish, you ask? Well, it is Jamaica’s national dish. Ackee, a relative of the lychee, was brought to Jamaica from West Africa, probably on a slave ship. In 1962, it took pride of place next to the coat of arms, flag, lignum vitae, blue mahoe and humming bird as one of the symbols of the newly independent island nation.
Ackee and saltfish is made of two main ingredients: ackee and salted cod. As with most dishes, different people add their own twist. Here’s how I make it:
1lb boneless saltfish
2 dozen ackees or 2 cans
6 strips of bacon, cut up
1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, seeded
2 stalks of scallion, chopped
1 sprig of thyme
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
1/4 cup of cooking oil (optional)
Note: Unripened ackees contain a toxic substance that is released when the pod is opened. If you’re using them, make sure they are completely opened, like these in this photo are.
Remove the ackees from their pods, discard the pinkish-red membrane and seed. Wash and put them to boil in a large pot with saltfish that has been washed to remove traces of salt crystals.
You can also cook the ackees separately in lightly salted water or use the water from the saltfish.
(There are different varieties of ackees. Some really soft ones, so called ‘butter’ ackees, take just a few minutes to cook. Others are firmer and take a bit a little longer. You want to make sure whichever one you use, you don’t over cook them or they will break apart.)
Canned ackees are already pre-cooked so if you’re using those, all you’ll need to do is wash the salt off the saltfish then put in a pot with enough water to cover and boil, or soak overnight to remove the salt then boil. Drain. Flake with a fork or your fingers.
Fry bacon strips, remove from saucepan. Saute onions in same oil until tender. Add strips of Scotch Bonnet pepper, chopped scallion (leave some for garnishing) and tomato. Then add flaked saltfish and stir. Add the ackees. Season with freshly ground black pepper and thyme. Stir carefully so as not to break the pods. Lower heat and let cook for about 5-7 minutes.
Plate, garnish with chopped scallions and serve as an appetizer or main course with avocado wedges, bammie, fried plantains, boiled green bananas or Johnny Cakes.
Enjoy!
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Catching the Vibe in Treasure Beach
Treasure Beach is small community on Jamaica’s south western coast that prides itself with being friendly and very laid back.
A fishing community with six miles of beaches, rocky coastline and private coves, it is the perfect place to get away from it all and with not much activity besides swimming, snorkeling, bicycle rides, etc., you’ve got little choice than to relax and catch the vibe.
I’ve been going to Treasure Beach for several years now, most times to attend the international literary festival, Calabash, which brings scores of lovers of the word to this far off the beaten track place to listen to world class literature.
I’ve also been when the festival is not in session. Besides the people, here are a few of the other reasons I keep returning.
- Fishing boats at Treasure Beach
- Pool at Jakes
- Cottage at Jakes
- Seaview
- Coconut tree
- Plants grow everywhere
- Pink hibiscus
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Jamaica: Royal Palms Nature Reserve
Just beyond the hustle and bustle of Negril‘s Hip Strip, that stretch of road that marks off the
beach and the hotels that spill out on to the famous white sands, is a secluded place known mostly to nature lovers.
The Royal Palms Nature Reserve, part of the 6,000 acre Negril Morass, is a 300 acre expanse of towering Royal Palms – the largest stand in the world – and long thatch palm.
This popular eco-tourism spot teems with about 300 species of animals, reptiles, birds and butterflies as well as over 114 species of flowers.
Walk the half-mile boardwalk and see up close the variety of birds that live among the mangroves – from egrets and herons to ospreys and hawks – the West Indian Whistling duck, an endangered species, and plants such as anchovy pear, wicker vine and saw grass. Some plants are endemic to the area, others have medicinal purposes.
Or climb the 30 foot observation tower to get a bird’s eye view of the area.
The black lake at Royal Palms is evidence of the extensive deposits of peat in the area.
Next time you’re in Negril, plan a day to take a leisurely stroll through Royal Palms. It’ll be a relaxing experience.
Tours can be arranged through hotels and guests houses or you can go on your own. Royal Palm Nature Reserve is just outside Negril on the Sheffield Road in Westmoreland. Open daily 9-6. Cost $15/adults; $7/children. 876-364-7404
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What’s Great About Jamaica’s Great Houses?
Jamaica’s nearly 300 year old great houses provide a peek into a byegone era. Some have been turned into museums, others offer a beautiful backdrop for weddings and events.
Today, we’ll visit three: Bellefield Great House and Gardens, Good Hope Great House and Devon House.
Bellefield Great House, located just outside Montego Bay, has played host to Queen Elizabeth
II, John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill. Built in 1794, it is part of the Barnett Estate and is owned by the Kerr-Jarrett family. The house, gardens and Sugar Mill are available for tours and private events.
For more information, (876) 952-2382
Good Hope Great House: Nestled on 2,000 acres more than 500 miles above sea level in the lush mountains of Trelawny’s Queen of Spain Valley, Good Hope was built in 1755 by Thomas Williams. It was later purchased by John Tharp and has changed ownership many times. The current owners have restored the property, where the first hot water bath in the Caribbean was installed, period furniture, stables, a lily pond and bird sanctuary.
For information, 876-469-3444
This Georgian style mansion was built in 1881 for Jamaica’s first black millionaire, George
Stiebel. Purchased and restored in 1968 by the Government of Jamaica, Devon House, now a historical landmark, is decorated with French, English, Jamaican and Caribbean antiques and reproductions. Located in Kingston, it is known as a venue that promotes Jamaican art and culture.
For information, call 876-929-6602
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Traveling to Music: Pierre Akendengue
The customs and immigration officer at Léon M’ba International Airport in Libreville, Gabon began digging into my suitcase all the while asking me the usual questions, what is your purpose for visiting Gabon, where will you be staying, etc.
Then he saw my music and stopped. You know Akendengué? he asked, surprise and delight registering on his face simultaneously.
Normally, when I travel in the Caribbean and especially in Africa, my Jamaican passport is enough. But this day, it was the music I had with me that stopped the questions and eased me through. (Thank goodness he liked Akendengué!)
I smiled when I remembered that customs official this morning as I listened to Akendengué’s 01 Awana W’afrika, but more than anything else, I’m reminded that music is a big part of my travels. Wherever I go, there’s usually a song or a musician that symbolizes that trip and brings it back to me with all the smells, sounds and sights when I play it again at home.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kZb88t7zS0]
What are some of your traveling music? What song or musician makes you feel as if you’ve just unpacked your suitcase?
For Gabon, it was Akendengué. I have so many, I’ll make Traveling to Music a regular feature.
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A Step Back in Time: Greenwood Great House
Great houses provide a wonderful opportunity to step back in time to see how life was lived in a particular period.
Greenwood Great House, which is located on the border of Trelawny and St. James in the
town of Greenwood is a time capsule that has carefully preserved the legacy of its previous owners.
Part of an 84,000 acre plantation, Greenwood has an impressive pedigree. Built in 1790 by Richard Barrett, a custos of St James, Speaker of the Assembly and cousin of the British poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, it has been in continuous occupation since.
Greenwood boasts the original Barrett family library complete with leather-bound books dating to 1697, china and original furniture, some with the Barrett family crest.
What impressed me most about this house is that is has never been abandoned. It still has original furnishings and artifacts, a lot of which I had never seen before.
Bob and Anne Betton, its proud current owners and operators, opened Greenwood as a museum in 1976.
Greenwood Great House, 876-953-1077 is open every day from 9-6. Tours cost $14 for adults, $7 for children under 12.
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Rose Hall, Jamaica’s (Haunted) Great House
Jamaica, the third largest island in the Caribbean, was ‘discovered’ in 1494 on Christopher Columbus’ second voyage to the New World. He was in search of silver and gold. Columbus declared Xaymaca, as it was then known “the fairest island that eyes have beheld.”
Among the ‘gifts’ he brought to the New World was sugar cane, but the indigenous Taino (Arawak) population was decimated before it could be developed into a viable industry. This forced the Spanish to look elsewhere for cheap labor. They turned to Africa.
The slave trade was well underway in 1655 when, after 150 years of colonial rule, the British wrested control of the country from the Spanish.
Sugar flourished and Jamaica was, at a time, its largest producer. The wealth sugar generated made plantation owners extremely wealthy. Some of that wealth made its way back to Britain. Some of it was spent building lavish ‘great houses’ that demonstrated the wealth and power of the owners. About 700 existed on the island — all but fourteen were destroyed during and after the 1831 slave revolt which was led by Samuel Sharpe, a local Baptist preacher.
My next few posts will be about this interesting aspect of Jamaica’s history. Walk with me as we take a step back and discover Jamaica’s Great Houses.
Rose Hall
Rose Hall was built in 1770 for John Palmer, then custos of St. James, and his wife, Rosa. A ‘calendar house,’ it has 365 windows, 52 doors and 12 bedrooms. The house eventually passed to Palmer’s grand-nephew, John Rose Palmer and his wife, Annie, the infamous ‘White Witch.’
Annie, Palmer’s second wife, is said to have killed three husbands and several slave lovers at Rose Hall before being murdered in 1831.
The slaves were so fearful of her that after her death, they burned all her possessions, including her photographs.
The property was in ruins for several years before being restored to its former glory by the owners, John Rollins (now deceased) and his wife, Michele.
Truth be told, like a lot of Jamaicans, I’m afraid of ghosts and the stories of the brutality at Rose Hall more than clouded my image of the place. But I realized later that those
stories were keeping me from enjoying something that was almost in my backyard, a place that I now find intriguing because of its history.
I can’t say that I saw any ghosts at Rose Hall but several of the photos I took inside the house
turned out blurry, a few had shadows where I know there hadn’t been any.
Walking down the steps to Annie’s torture chamber, the last thing you see is the azure blue waters of the Caribbean Sea just visible through the doorway. It made me wonder what went through the victim’s mind as he (or she) was being led away to be tortured.
The day I visited, a soft breeze brushed my cheek as I sat near this man-made pool. The peace and beauty surrounding the house seemed incongruous with the stories of destruction inside.
Rose Hall Great House is located about a 20 minute drive from the airport in Montego Bay. Open 9-6. Tours are given daily with the last tour given at 5:15 p.m. Call 876-953-2323 for information.
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Escoveitched Fish: Caught in a Pickle in Jamaica
I love food and I love to eat. But I’m very particular about what I like. I nearly ditched my last year of
university so that I could stay in Barcelona. For the food.
In terms of spices and richness, the food in Spain comes pretty close to what I grew up eating and what my body responds to.
When I’m in Jamaica, one meal I enjoy thoroughly is escoveitched fish – not just any fish. For me, it has to be red snapper. I can eat it by itself, right down to the head and bones, no accompanying dish required.
When I was growing up, I’d watch my grandmother and mother prepare typical Jamaican dishes and though I couldn’t cook then, some of those recipes stuck and I replicated them when I began cooking for myself. But escoveitch I wanted to do just like my mother did – fried crispy (so that it crumbles when you bite it) then marinated, for at least 4 hours, in a mixture of vinegar, onions and pepper. Frying it until it’s crisp keeps the fish firm after it’s soaked in the vinegar mixture and when you bite into it, it creates an explosion of flavor as tangy vinegar, biting Scotch Bonnet and sweet onions awaken the taste buds. Is the only dish I asked her to show me how to make.
Escoveitch, derived from the Spanish word escabeche, meaning pickled, was brought to Jamaica by the descendants of Christopher Columbus, who claimed the island for the King and Queen of Spain in 1494. Jamaica remained a Spanish colony until the British grabbed it in 1655.
Evidence of Spanish presence is still to be found in place names like Ocho Rios, Savanna la Mar, Rio Cobre, etc., and in some of our foods.
The popular escoveitched fish is a tasty reminder of our Spanish heritage.
Here’s my mother’s recipe for this crowd pleaser.
Escoveitched Fish
3 lbs. fish
4 tsp. black pepper and 3 tsp salt, combined
2 or 3 limes (or lemons)
1 Scotch Bonnet or other hot pepper, cut in strips
1/2 cup oil for frying
2 cups vinegar
1 tsp. pimento seeds
2 large onions, sliced
1/2 tsp. of whole black pepper grains
Wash fish thoroughly in water to which juice of limes have been added. Dry thoroughly. When dry,
coat the fish on both sides and on inside with combined salt and black pepper. Set aside on paper towels. (Note: Paper towels keep the fish dry so the hot oil doesn’t pop and splash when you put it in.)
Heat oil in frying pan to boiling and fry fish on both sides until nice and crisp. Set fish aside in a glass dish.
In a saucepan, combine vinegar, sliced onions, peppers, pimento seeds, whole black pepper grains and bring to a boil. Simmer until onions are tender. Remove from fire and cool.
Pour over fish and leave steeping overnight (or for at least 4 hours).
Serve with festival (flour and cornmeal dumplings), bammie (made from cassava) or even rice and peas. Escoveitched fish can be eaten at any meal. I could get caught in that pickle any time.
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