Jerk Pork
Also jerk chicken
4.5 lb pork shoulder (I like to use loin)
2tbsp finely chopped hot peppers (optional)
1tbsp allspice
½ tsp grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tbsp minced garlic
¼ cup chopped escallion (Caribbean onion bottom is a purple red colour to it) look in Caribbean stores, Middle Eastern stores or possible Chinese store.
¼ cup chopped white onion
3 tbsp salt (sea salt taste great in this one)
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 sprigs of thyme
½ cup oil
¾ cup crushed, dry pimento leaves(harder to find works ok without)
1 cup water
Wipe pork well (with vinegar note all Caribbean recipes meat is cleaned with vinegar first). Mix next ten ingredients together and rub into the pork (cutting gashes into meat helps it marinated better. Can cut to the bone but just keep in one piece). Leave covered in refrigerator over night. Scrape off seasoning. Heat oil in a Dutch pot or thick bottomed pan on stove top. Fry for ten minutes turn and add water and crushed Pimento leaves. Cover and cook slowly for 2 to 2.5 hours turning occasionally. When cooked chop meat into pieces and bake at 400 to dry it out(10 minutes).
One can also bake low temp once sear in pan with a moderate amount of water in pan turning as needed(to slightly less than medium as it will cook more as it cools). I then let stand in fridge over night and finish baking it next day to let the flavor go through the meat more.
If doing chicken marinate then bake till cooked but not too dry and serve.
I love jerk recipes. This one looks good, I'll have to try it. I have mango salsa recipe I like to serve with jerk.
Mango Papaya Salsa
1 bunch fresh cilantro (1/2 cup)
1 cup diced papaya
1 cup diced mango
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup diced avocado (optional)
1/4 cup diced onion (red or sweet vidalias work well)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Pinch the leaves off the cilantro stems.
Place in a small non-metal bowl with the remaining salsa ingredients.
Mix thoroughly with a spoon.
If you like it spicy you can also add a little chopped & seeded jalapeno.
I am going to have to try that recipe next time I have a jerk dish. Thanks alskann. I am betting it woulg go nice with rice if you put some hot peppers in with it.
I am unsure why the name my instinct says it might have been a spice used to preserve meat then became what we have today. Like we make jerky.
I had to look it up and here is what I found.
Library think quest had this to say:
QUOTE |
Christopher Columbus visited Jamaica multiple times towards the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, once even shipwrecked off the north coast for 2 years (1503-1504). During these visits he described a way the Tainos (the ancient people of Jamaica) used in preserving meat by mixing peppers, allspice and sea salt to make what is now known as Jamaican jerk spice. |
QUOTE |
The Quechua word charqui (dried meat) gave the name to both jerk and jerky. Jamaican "jerk" ties well into its first people; American Indian (Tainos)roots, since of all the modern barbecueing processes, in its purest form it corresponds the closest to historical descriptions of the Tainos' method. The Tainos would construct a grid of green sticks some distance above a smoldering fire of green pimento wood (that is, the wood of the allspice tree) in a shallow pit, place meat on the grid and cover it with pimento leaves to impart further flavour while trapping the smoke for maximum effect. Originally the jerk meat was cut into strips and dried in the sun for use at a later date. A small fire was lit under the meat so that the smoke would prevent flies from laying their eggs on the raw meat. Native Americans also use this method and also call it jerk meat, as was shown in an episode of Ray Mears the survivalist's programme on the BBC. (See also jerky.) |
QUOTE (Beowolf @ 14-Jun 08, 1:01 PM) |
Why do they call it "jerk" I hope it wasnt because it was invented by a jerk. |
QUOTE |
Jamaican Jerk History The term jerk is said to come from the word charqui, a Spanish term for jerked or dried meat, which eventually became jerky in English. Another origin is linked to the jerking or poking of the meat with a sharp object, producing holes which were then filled with the spice mixture. Like most Caribbean islands, Jamaican foods are derivative of many different settlement cultures, including British, Dutch, French, Spanish, East Indian, West African, Portugese, and Chinese. The origins of jerk pork can be traced back to the pre-slavery days of the Cormantee hunters of West Africa through the Maroons, who were Jamaican slaves that escaped from the British during the invasion of 1655. |