I didn’t hide my turned up nose when, on a recent outing, my friend asked if I wanted to get some rice pudding. She had planned on serving some at a dinner she was having the next day. You’ll love this rice pudding, she said. I wasn’t that sure.
When it comes to desserts, fresh fruits usually do it for me. But when I sampled the pineapple rice pudding, it reminded me of a dessert from my childhood. Its name was just on the tip of my tongue. What I did remember was that it was orange pulp and juice flavored with condensed milk.
Orange and grapefruit pulp
Sweetened condensed milk
Adding condensed milk
I mentioned it to my friend and described it to the others at the dinner but no one knew which dessert I was trying to remember. On the way home, the name, Matrimony, popped into my head so I did a search on Google as soon as I got home.
Matrimony is a combination of orange and grapefruit pulp, star apple, which is sweetened with condensed milk. We never made ours with star apple but one of these days, I’d love to try it. Besides, I’ve never seen star apples here — they don’t have a very long shelf life.
Matrimony got its name from the marriage of the thick, sticky sweetness of the condensed milk and the tartness of the grapefruit and orange juices — its perfect counterpoint. I guess it’s from that combination of flavors that the dessert got its name.
Matrimony – orange and grapefruit in condensed milk
I’ve had Matrimony on the brain for the last three weeks. Chatting with my cousin, I mentioned it to her. I don’t know it as Matrimony, she said, dismissively. It’s fruit salad. Talk about Matrimony led to us reminiscing about the elaborate Sunday meals we used to have that were typically accompanied by homemade desserts and fruit juices.
As I expected, I didn’t find star apples here but the oranges and grapefruits were enough. As soon as I finished chatting with my cousin, I set to work.
The most time-consuming part of making Matrimony is removing the pith. Once you finish that, all you have to do is fold in the condensed milk, stir and serve. It can be served chilled — perfect for those days that are especially warm. You can also garnish it with a little nutmeg. Here’s the recipe:
I had several ideas for this week’s FoodieTuesday but this photo of a plate of tropical fruits captured my attention. I stared at the fruits for several minutes, remembering the breakfast that it accompanied, the people who shared the table, the laughter, the view and even the activities we did that day. The colors, in particular, reminded me of the sun and warm temperatures.
Slices of cantaloupe, pineapple, lime, paw paw (papaya), mango and banana
Cantaloupe: Though not native to Jamaica, local farmers have been experimenting with and growing cantaloupe. But production is relatively small. Only about 2,000 metric tonnes are exported annually.
Pineapple: It’s difficult to tell from the photo what variety of pineapple this was. You can find at least three different types growing in Jamaica – cowboy, sugar loaf and Ripley.
Lime: Almost every Jamaican has a lime tree in their backyard garden. We use limes to make lemonade (limeade), in cooking and baking. We also use the leaves to make tea.
Paw Paw: Paw paw as we call it here is the reddish orange fruit on the plate. It is probably native to the West Indies. The fruit that is popular now is smaller than the variety I remember (the one I didn’t like as a child). According to the University of the West Indies website, there are 45 species of papaya and the “trees” reach fruit bearing age after only a year. The “Solo” type, with pink flesh was introduced to Hawaii from Barbados and Jamaica in 1911.
Jamaica exports the “sunrise” variety which has a deep red flesh. We started exporting in the 1980s, with more than half of the fruit going to the US. A smaller percentage also made it to markets in the UK, Canada and Holland.
Mango: It’s difficult to say which type of mango this one is, since we have at least 21 different varieties. From the size, I’d guess that it’s either a Julie or Bombay.
Banana: I can say for sure this was not a honey banana, but beyond that I can’t say which type this was as we have several varieties in Jamaica.
Which tropical fruit is your favorite?
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I heard about jackass corn when I was younger but I don’t remember seeing let alone trying it. Lacking any context, I imagined it was a variety of corn – one that jackasses liked to eat. I know that’s pretty literal but what else could I think?
I hadn’t thought of or heard about jackass corn until sometime last year when my friend, Sandra, and I walked into 14 Parish Restaurant, a small take out spot in Hackensack, NJ. The typical assortment of sweets – rock buns, gizzadas, grater cakes – sat on display in a glass case on the counter but there was one item I didn’t recognize. Curious, I asked what it was.
J
I chided the young cashier for not knowing and he went back to the kitchen to ask.
“It’s jackass corn,” he said when he returned, his face still wearing a puzzled look.
Jackass (or donkey) corn is a hard biscuit made of flour, water, coconut milk, and nutmeg. It is rolled flat, cut into rectangles and baked. According to the Dictionary of Jamaican English, it’s called jackass corn because when you eat it, it sounds like the sound a donkey makes when it’s eating corn.
Preheat the oven to 375F. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, sugar, nutmeg and salt. Stir in the coconut. Add the water and mix, forming a very stiff dough that will not crumble.
Roll out the dough on a floured board to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the dough into small rectangles. Place the pieces onto a greased cookie sheet and prick each one with a fork. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a plate to cool.
By Lucinda Scala Quinn
Adapted from Lucinda's Authentic Jamaican Kitchen
Adapted from Lucinda's Authentic Jamaican Kitchen
InsideJourneys https://insidejourneys.com/
Jackass corn used to be a popular snack enjoyed by school children as well as adults. It fell out of favor perhaps because it’s likely seen as irrelevant, or unsophisticated next to prepared snacks like potato chips and Cheese Trix.
But one of the unforeseen and unintended impacts of migration is that Jamaicans, like other immigrant communities, cling to the traditions that keep them connected to home. One of the many food items they hold on to is jackass corn, which explains why it would be available for sale in a small restaurant in New Jersey.
As I expected, the owner said he sells mostly to people of a certain age. Since I’d never tried them, I handed over $2 for two biscuits which came wrapped tightly in plastic. My aunt couldn’t believe it when I told her what I had found.
I couldn’t bring myself to eat my treat right away and kept the jackass corn for almost a week before finally ripping off the plastic. I tried the first one. It was slightly sweet, with a hint of nutmeg, crisp but not as hard as I expected. I made a cup of tea, fresh mint, and had the second one. You can also have jackass corn on its own as a snack.
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For more recipes, check out Lucinda Scala Quinn’s cookbook, Lucinda’s Authentic Jamaican Kitchen
On a recent trip from Jamaica to New York, my friend and neighbor asked if I could take some frozen naseberries for a relative of hers who, she explained loves naseberries.
She drove around town until she found a vendor selling the delicious fruit at about $2.50 for a half-dozen. She returned home, flush with a feeling of accomplishment and prepared the naseberries for me to take. Sadly, after all that effort, the Customs Department didn’t allow me to bring the naseberries into the country.
I was disappointed, especially for my friend’s uncle who, I knew, would be anticipating his absolute favorite fruit – the naseberry.
Peeled Naseberry
Also called sapodilla, the naseberry is a small, slightly round fruit that has the same brown color as a kiwi. The flesh is light brown or rust colored, tastes a bit like cinnamon and is sugar-sweet with small, black seeds. The naseberry is high in fiber and rich in antioxidents.
When ripe, the fruit is firm but pliable so you can just break it apart with the fingers and eat it. Some people also eat the skin but I’ve never tried it.
It’s unclear when this native of Mexico and Central America made it to the Caribbean where it is a perennial favorite. The trees can grow quite tall — up to a 100 feet — but you’ll find at least one in the backyard gardens of many Jamaicans.
Naseberries are now in season so if you’re headed to Jamaica before April or May when the season ends, you might see it at the breakfast buffet table at your hotel. If it isn’t, you can always ask for it.
We typically eat naseberries as I’ve described above but I found this recipe for Pork Adobo with Pineapple-Naseberry Salsa in one of our local papers, the Jamaica Gleaner, that I can’t wait to try. The combination of the pineapple and naseberry is already making my mouth water.
The ortanique looks much like an orange and could easily be mistaken for one. The difference is in its shape — it’s typically a bit flat on top and bottom.
Ortanique
This native of Jamaica, a hybrid of the orange and tangerine, gets its name from orange (or), tangerine (tan) and unique (ique). A deliciously sweet fruit, with a hint of tang, the ortanique is a favorite with Jamaicans.
But there’s a bit of confusion about its origin – at least in some circles. Several sites list Charles Jackson as the creator of the fruit, a few others list David Daniel Phillips and still another mentions a Mr. Swaby.
Digging a bit further, I found a post on Facebook that credits David Daniel Phillips as the originator of the ortanique. According to Danielle-Beverley Phillips, a descendant of Phillips, Jackson, Swaby and others got their seedlings and plants from the Phillips nursery, and in 1939, the Jamaica Agricultural Society recognized Phillips as the creator of the ortanique plant and fruit.
Although there is confusion surrounding the origin of the ortanique, there is none about its popularity. The ortanique has been one of Jamaica’s major export products since the 1930s, when it was shipped primarily to Panama, the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Today, the ortanique can be found in supermarkets in the US and Canada.
Boxed and ready to go
Ortaniques are grown mainly in Manchester which, because if its particular soil combination, produces a special type of fruit. However, there are farms in other parishes.
The ortanique in the photo above comes from Good Hope Plantation in Trelawny. Good Hope grows ortaniques along with other citrus fruits, and packages them on site for export. The boxed fruits above were headed to Canada.
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It was the perfect day to be outside. The temperature that had stayed stuck in the 20s during the early part of the week had moved a full 20 degrees more – almost a heat wave. My friend, Joan, and I met Liz, our guide at the address Ahoy gave us. Liz was all smiles and greeted us as if we were old friends. We chatted for a while and as soon as the others arrived, we were off to Little Italy, the first leg of our tour.
Welcome to Little Italy
Little Italy, which once spread from Canal Street north to Houston Street, is the area where early immigrants from Italy made their first homes after coming through Ellis Island. At its peak, in the early 1900s, New York’s Italian population numbered about 390,000. Approximately 10,000 lived in Little Italy.
As newcomers in a strange land, they found comfort with others from the regions they’d left, others to who they were bound by dialect, culture and food. So you’d find former residents of Calabria on Mott Street, Silicians on Elizabeth Street and Neapolitans on Mulberry Street.
Our group in the courtyard of the Church of the Most Precious Blood
Life in the US wasn’t easy. They crowded into tenements and cold-water flats, did menial jobs to support their families here and back home. And as their economic situation improved, they spread out to Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, New Jersey and Long Island.
Through gentrification, the movement outward of Italians, and the growing population of nearby Chinatown, Little Italy has shrunk. Today, the community takes up only four blocks on Mulberry between Broome and Canal Streets. But what it’s lost in geographic size, it’s more than made up for in heart and soul and good food in over 40 restaurants, cafes and bakeries, that draw thousands of New Yorkers and visitors each year.
In 2010, the National Park Service designated Little Italy and Chinatown a Historic District.
Little Italy Food Tasting and Cultural Walking Tour
Leaving our meeting place on Canal Street, we walked northeast on Mulberry Street, stopping briefly at the historic Most Precious Blood Church, a Roman Catholic Church that has served the community since its founding in 1891.
Continuing on Mulberry, we made our first stop Alleva Dairy at 188 Grand Street. Alleva was established in 1892, by Pina Alleva, the matriarch of the family, who came to the US from Benevento. Alleva, the oldest Italian cheese store in America and is still run by the family.
Alleva
Alleva does not use artificial flavors. They sell cheese as well as pasta, salami, sausages and imported olive oil, among other items.
Prosciutto and Mozzarella
At Alleva, we sampled prosciutto and homemade mozzarella. I’ve had mozzarella on pizza but never by itself – its blandness doesn’t make it very appetizing to me. But I was curious to see how the homemade tasted — not that I expected one tasting to change my mind — but I’ve always preferred to start with the best.
Di Palo’s
Continuing on Grand, our next stop was at Di Palo’s Fine Foods. Another family-run establishment, Di Palo’s has been serving Little Italy since 1910, when Savino Di Palo, a cheese maker, opened his latteria or dairy store.
Now run by the fourth generation, Di Palo’s sells select traditional products that are imported directly from Italy. They carry foods from every region. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, the counters were designed low enough to give customers the feeling they’re in someone’s kitchen. Di Palo’s believes in educating their customers and has a chef in house and an enoteca (wine shop) next door. (More about this later.)
Di Palo’s
with Liz and Sal Di Palo
Food and History in Little Italy
Food and History in Little Italy
Cheese tasting at Di Palo
There were only a few people when we arrived but Liz, our tour guide, said it’s quite different later in the day and on Sundays. (Joan and I saw that when we returned around 5 p.m. to buy cheese. The store was crowded but it took about 20 minutes for us to fill our order.)
At Di Palo’s, we sampled two different cheeses – a piave and a moliterno (pecorino). Piave is made from cow’s milk while the moliterno is made from sheep’s milk with a small percentage of goat’s milk. To keep its moisture and flavor, olive oil is rubbed into the moliterno during the aging process.
Light yellow in color, almost like butter, the piave is hard and has a mild taste. It would be perfect with grapes and other fruits, or on its own. In contrast, the moliterno was sharp and slightly salty. It definitely woke up my tastebuds. I would use it in salads or add it to a cheese platter.
Grand Appetito
A slice of Grandma’s Pie
Leaving Di Palo’s, we crossed the street to Grand Appetito for a slice of pizza. As you can imagine, this isn’t any old pizza. Angelo, Grand Appetito’s owner, believes in making pizza the old-fashioned way and uses only homemade mozzarella in his pies.
Ferrara’s cannoli
Ferrara’s treats
Ferrara’s pastries
We made our final stop for cannoli next door at Ferrara Bakery & Café, another family run business. Ferrara has been a fixture in Little Italy since 1892 and is famous for its cannolis and Italian pastries. My cannolo was sweet and creamy. Thankfully, we were on a schedule as I could have easily gotten lost feeding my sweet tooth at Ferrara’s.
After we completed the Little Italy segment of the tour, we crossed Canal for the second half of our tour in Chinatown.
Thanks to Ahoy New York for hosting us on their Chinatown and Little Italy Food Tasting and Cultural Walking Tour, and to Liz, our very knowledgeable, very entertaining and very enthusiastic tour guide.
[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”0061288519″ locale=”us” height=”110″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51z6LYIXhSL._SL110_.jpg” width=”73″]97 Orchard Street: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement, Jane Ziegelman
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If you’re in Manhattan this week, it’s difficult to ignore the increased activity in the city as New York and New Jersey get ready to host this year’s Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Super Bowl was not on my mind as I walked through midtown yesterday but as I got to Bryant Park, I noticed trailers and work crews. At first, I thought they were preparing to shoot a movie or television show. But as I approached Broadway, I knew it had to be the Super Bowl.
Work crews had erected barricades which blocked off Broadway from 34th to 47th Streets, creating a pedestrian-only thoroughfare that I found out later goes by the temporary name, Super Bowl Boulevard. They had also started installing giant television screens and stages for performances.
The whipping up of the winds reminded me of the prediction that the temperature would dropped significantly from the morning’s balmy 40 degrees to the 20s. As I hurried to the subway, I thought about the weekend’s forecast and the thousands of football fans who’d be watching the game from these giant screens on Super Bowl Boulevard, those who’d be sitting in the uncovered stadium and the players who’d be playing outside.
If the predictions hold, it’ll be a cold weekend — the first time the Super Bowl will be played outdoors in a cold environment. So as I settled into my seat for the ride home, I began thinking about the kinds of snacks I’d prepare if I had to host a Super Bowl party.
Whether we get the snow and 20 degree temperatures is anyone’s guess. Either way, it’s still winter so my super snacks will be warming, filling, tasty and most importantly, can be all prepared ahead of time.
I’d keep a pot of chicken soup on a low flame and ladle it out as guests arrive. Then I’d have jerk chicken wings, ackee and saltfish bruschetta, Festival, spinach or vegetable cocktail patties, stewed peas (meatless), roast pork, coleslaw, and macaroni and cheese. For dessert, I’d make a fruit cake and ambrosia, and have lots of Red Stripe beer and rum punch on hand.
Mix together the jerk rub, onion, pepper, thyme and scallions. Rub mixture thoroughly into the wings. Cover and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
Heat oven to 350°F, cook covered for 1 hour or until done. Remove the cover and let wings bake another 15-20 minutes until it turns dark in color.
If you’re using a gas grill, preheat it to 225° to 250°F. Place the wings on the grill and cook, covered, for about 1 hours, turning every 5 minutes. Wings will take on a very dark color and the juices run clear when they are pierced.
Serve with Festival and coleslaw.
InsideJourneys https://insidejourneys.com/
What snacks are you making for Sunday’s Super Bowl?
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With its lumpy peel and lopsided shape, the UGLI® is the ugly duckling of the citrus family. But don’t let appearances sway you. The ugli proves the adage: beauty is skin deep, ugly goes to the bone, or in this case, the core.
Peel back its yellow-green skin, which is soft and surprisingly easy to remove, and the ugli reveals several light pink pegs bursting with an unusual amount of sweet and slightly tangy juice and few, sometimes no seeds.
Ugli
The ugli is a cross between the Seville orange (which gives it its dimpled skin), the grapefruit (from which it derives its color), and the tangerine (from which it gets its loose skin), was developed by Jamaican agronomists.
Called ugli because of its appearance, the fruit was found growing wild near Browns Town in the parish of St. Ann about 90 years ago. A commercial variety was later developed. Ugli is registered under trademark and is exported to the US, UK, Canada, Scandinavia and some Eastern European countries.
The ugli has 45 calories, 2 grams of dietary fiber and 70% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. It can last up to 6 days unrefrigerated, and a week or more in the refrigerator.
If you’re in Jamaica during the citrus season (November/December to April/May), you should ask to try the ugli. It’s not as common as its forebears and because of that, is typically more expensive.
On the other hand, you might be lucky to meet someone who’s got a tree or two in their backyard. I hope you get to try it.
Ugli is perfect for sweet and savory recipes. I’ve used it mainly in juices and fruit salads but I’d love to try this Ugli Duckling from ugli.com.
4 - 4½ lb (1.8 - 2 kg) plump duck, fresh or thawed frozen
A little salt
1 medium sized UGLI® tangelo
4 tbsp Cointreau
To garnish
Small bunch watercress, washed and drained
6 - 8 potatoes
Instructions
Prick the duck all over with a fork. Rub a little salt into the duck skin and place on a trivet in a roasting pan.
Roast for 1½ - 1¾ hours at 375 deg F (180 deg C) without basting.
Meanwhile cut the skin including the pith off the UGLI® tangelo.
Carefully slice the fruit into slices and cut in half. Gently poach the fruit in Cointreau for 4-5 minutes then pour the remaining juice over the duck when cooked on the serving plate.
Garnish with fruit slices, watercress and Duchess or mashed potatoes.
InsideJourneys https://insidejourneys.com/
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Tamarind season runs from roughly January to March in Jamaica. The sour tasting fruit grows four or five in a pod, each with a small, flat black seed. When ripe, the pod becomes a light brown brittle shell that breaks easily to expose the sticky fruit.
Tamarind is indigenous to Africa and likely came to the Jamaica and the Caribbean with enslaved Africans. It is high in tartaric acid, B vitamins and calcium. Tamarind grows easily and can be found in tropical countries around the world. Is a favorite with children and adults who savor its sour taste.
Ripe fruitwith and without shell
There are many ways to enjoy tamarind, which we call tambrin. The best way by far, is to peel off the shell and eat it. Once the fruit hits your tongue, maybe even before, your mouth will begin to pucker. But that doesn’t stop the tamarind lover who can’t eat only one.
We also separate the fruit from the shell to make tamarind paste, and remove the pulp, add sugar and spices and roll it into tamarind balls (above), or make it into a drink, which is quite refreshing.
I hadn’t seen tamarind balls for a long time after I left Jamaica. Then I noticed them in a grocery store in the Washington, DC area, bought some and started eating them before I got to my car. As expected, my mouth began to water when the tamarind hit my tongue but it was the pepper that shook up my taste buds. I’d never had tamarind balls with pepper before. Ours is typically made with sugar and one or two spices. Curious, I looked at the package – it was made in Malaysia.
Tamarind Balls
At one meeting of my book club, the discussion turned to tamarind. One of the members mentioned that she had found sweet tamarind in the supermarket. That shocked all of us — our group was mostly women from the Caribbean who were used to sour tamarind. So she promised and brought sweet and sour ones to the next meeting. We set aside the book we were supposed to be discussing, ate the tamarinds and reminisced about our childhoods. Almost everyone said they preferred the sour ones.
I love to use tamarind in cooking as it goes well with fish, seafood or meats. One of the dishes I prepared for Christmas dinner last year was roast pork with tamarind reduction. I did it on the fly so I don’t have a recipe but I found a Tamarind Jerk Pork recipe at yummily.com that I’m sharing below.
You can find tamarind in grocery stores or supermarkets that sell tropical or Asian foods. It is one of the ingredients that give Worcestershire sauce its flavor and color.
Tamarind Season in Jamaica – the period after Christmas
In Jamaica, the period after Christmas, when consumers have less to spend and stores experience a decline in sales, is called the tamarind season, possibly because it is the beginning of the planting season and only a few fruits, mostly citrus, are in season.
• 1 cinnamon stick, ground, or 1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2-3 chillies, chopped
• 2.5 cm ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp finely chopped thyme leaves
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
Instructions
1. For the jerk marinade: place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Make small incisions in the pork using a sharp knife and rub the marinade into the meat. Cover with cling film and chill for up to 48 hours, depending on the desired intensity of flavour, but at least overnight.
3. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6. Place the pork in a medium ovenproof baking dish, cover with foil and roast for 1½–2 hours, or until it is soft and well coloured. Alternatively the pork can be cooked on a barbecue.
4. Remove from the oven, leave to rest for 10-15 minutes then carve and serve.
By Silvena Rowe
InsideJourneys https://insidejourneys.com/
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Many of us learn to cook while watching the women in our families – our mothers, grandmothers, and aunties. Many others learn from using cookbooks.
I spent a lot of time in the kitchen in my early days – but I was doing homework rather than actively watching my mother cook. Frankly, I wasn’t very interested, maybe because I was a picky eater, but she also wouldn’t let me near the stove.
So the kitchen wasn’t alien territory to me and as soon as I was old enough, I was helping her bake the rum cakes that are synonymous with Christmas in Jamaica and the Caribbean. I loved those days in the kitchen with her. It was a little game with us – me trying to sneak and eat some of the nuts she had to put in the cake, she trying to catch me with the evidence.
Maybe because of all those years in the kitchen, I wasn’t worried about not being able to cook when I moved away to attend school. Part of it was common sense – I knew, for example, that if I planned to cook rice and peas, I’d have to boil the peas before adding the rice. The most important part, I think, was memory — I knew how the food was supposed to taste.
I was confident. Fried chicken was one of the first meals I tried. It was a Sunday and I remember thinking that my kitchen smelled just like the one at home.
And as time passed, I perfected the meals I tried and added new ones to my repertoire. Each time I visited home, I brought one or two Jamaican cookbooks back with me.
Jamaican Cookbooks on My Kitchen Counter
These Jamaican cookbooks come in handy, when I’m baking, when I need to look up ingredients or recently, when I was researching the history of homemade peppermint candy.
Norma Benghiat’s, [simpleazon-link asin=”0140465987″ locale=”us”]Traditional Jamaican Cookery[/simpleazon-link], my first purchase, reminded me of a little cookbook my mother used. Benghiat’s book features all the traditional dishes and provides background information on many ingredients in the extensive glossary.
Enid Donaldson’s, [simpleazon-link asin=”1894020863″ locale=”us”]The Real Taste of Jamaica, Rev. Ed.[/simpleazon-link], is the book I refer to friends who want to learn more about Jamaican cooking. A larger than Benghiat’s book, it’s full of attractive color photos that make the foods jump off the page. I turned to Donaldson when I started to make Easter buns and use it frequently to check ingredients when I try something new.
[simpleazon-link asin=”1580088422″ locale=”us”]Jerk from Jamaica: Barbecue Caribbean Style[/simpleazon-link], Helen Willinsky – As the name suggests, all the recipes are about jerk and were created in Walkerswood, a local company’s kitchens. My favorite recipe from Helen is the Stir Fry Vegetables and Jerk Tofu, which I wrote about recently.
A Collection of 19th Century Jamaica Cookery and Herbal Recipes – a lovely collection of old recipes, I check this cookbook out when I need herbal remedies.
Lucinda’s Authentic Jamaican Recipes, Lucinda Scala Quinn – I love Lucinda’s cookbook more for the photos than the recipes. I use for presentation ideas.
[simpleazon-link asin=”9625932283″ locale=”us”]Food of Jamaica: Authentic Recipes from the Jewel of the Caribbean (Food of the World Cookbooks)[/simpleazon-link], John DeMers and Eduardo Fuss – Again, another Jamaican cookbook I love for the color photos of the food. When I feel adventurous, I check for variations on recipes or presentation.
[simpleazon-link asin=”9768215801″ locale=”us”]Nyam Jamaica a Culinary Tour (Nyam Jamaica)[/simpleazon-link], Rosemary Parkinson, at coffee-table size and 425 pages, this isn’t just a cookbook, it’s a culinary tour de force through all fourteen of the parishes that make up Jamaica. Beautifully photographed, Nyam (an African word for eat) Jamaica looks at the history of the food, it features interviews with the cooks who make the foods, and offers unique recipes, like ackee cheesecake.
JamaicanEats, while not a Jamaican cookbook, this magazine features articles on cooking, stories, and reader recipes.
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