JAMAICAN WET JERK Seasoning, FRESH BATCH Homemade

About the Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, spice or marinade

Jerk is not just a spice but a method of cooking. Without certain ingredients in the spice and the meat being cooked a certain way you cannot truly call it a jerk.

After seasoning or marinating the meat it is usually cooked over pit or fireplace. Pimento wood is placed over the hot coals and the meat is placed directly on top of the wood. To steam the meat so it is juicy you can place some pimeto branches on top of the meat.

The wood and branches must be green so they can hold the moisture and wont catch fire. After the meat is steamed then the branches are removed and the meat continues to cook until it gets a nice brown color.

The method for cooking the meat over the pit is now only done in a few places still and a grill replaces the pit; but adding a few wood chips help to give that smoky flavour. The spice has not changed.

This Jamaican Jerk seasoning mixes sweet tropical spices and savory herbs with a wonderful, peppery heat. A must have for the barbeque. This seasoning works great with chicken, shrimp, ribs, pork or lamb. Jerk is the process of spicing and grilling meats, poultry, and even vegetables, although the most popular are jerk pork and jerk chicken. The resulting food yields a spicy-sweet flavor and a tender texture. Jerk is also used as a noun when describing the dry or wet seasoning mix used to jerk a particular food.

 Jerk pork is believed to have been conceived when the Maroons introduced African meat cooking techniques to Jamaica which were combined with native Jamaican ingredients and seasonings used by the Arawak. The method of smoking meat for a long period of time served two practical purposes, keeping insects away from the raw meat and preserving it for longer once it has been cooked. This process also introduces a strong smoky flavour to the meat.There are two commonly held theories regarding how the name “Jerk” came to be used. One is that it originates from the Spanish word “Charqui”, used to describe dried meat. Over time this term evolved from “Charqui” to “Jerky” to “Jerk”. Another theory is that the name derives from the practice of jerking (poking) holes in the meat to fill with spices prior to cooking. Nowadays, the word “Jerk” is used as a noun to describe the seasoning applied to jerked food and as a verb to describe the process of cooking used.