Jamaican Foods

Jamaica is a veritable drive-through grocery of tropical fruits and vegetables, many growing in wild profusion right by the side of the road. Almonds, cinnamon, cocoa, mangoes, you name it, you'll probably find it on this lush island.

IN THE MARKET

The small town markets, usually conducted on Saturday mornings, spill over with the bounty of the island's plants. Most of these are "bendung" or "bend down" markets, simple, traditional markets where the fruits and vegetables are spread out on tarps across the sidewalks. Here's a look at the variety of tastes you might see on your next trip to a Jamaican market.

Ackee. This is the essential ingredient in the national dish of Jamaica, ackee and saltfish. This small, innocent looking red fruit grows on a large evergreen tree. The fruit tree was brought from Ghana to the island. The ackee, however, must be picked by someone knowledgeable; in its unripened state the fruit is deadly. Only when the red fruit pops open to reveal black seeds inside is the fruit safe to eat.

Alligator pear. The perfect example of the practicality of the Jamaican patois, this is the local name for an avocado (also sometimes called "poor man's butter" because of its use by those who couldn't afford butter or refrigeration).

Almond. Almond trees, originally from India, are found throughout the island except in the mountains.

Arrowroot. The tuber produces a vegetable and a flour. Used by the Taino Indians, the arrowroot can be used much like cornstarch to thicken soups and sauces.

Avocado pear. The avocado is used in many dishes and is called the alligator pear or just pear throughout by most Jamaicans.

Bamboo. Bamboo grows amazingly fast and many say you can literally watch it grow. Surprisingly, bamboo is not a major ingredient in Jamaican cookery. Tender bamboo shoots are used in Chinese dishes throughout the island but not in traditional homestyle cooking.

Banana. The banana is a plant, not a tree, bearing only one bunch of bananas before it is cut down to allow a new shoot to take its place. Bananas are especially profuse in the eastern reaches of Jamaica near Port Antonio, but look for banana trees in yards throughout the island.

Breadfruit. Breadfruit is kind of an all-purpose fruit: you can boil it, roast it, fry it, you name it. The giant green fruit came to Jamaica thanks to Captain Bligh (yep, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame). Breadfruit is a popular sidedish.

Calabeza. This is the West Indian pumpkin, a small, nonsweet vegetable that is used like an acorn squash in soups and stews. If you can't find calabeza at home, substitute acorn, Hubbard, or butternut squash. (For recipes, see Pumpkin.)

Callaloo. This leafy vegetable resembles spinach and is used similarly. Don't miss the callaloo soup, usually spiced up with saltfish. The vegetable originally comes from India but is seen throughout the Caribbean these days. Substitutes for callaloo include spinach, Swiss chard, and Chinese pak choy.

Carambola. The carambola is often called starfruit, a reference to its distinctive star shape. A waxy fruit that can be eaten raw, either sliced or in a fruit salad, the shape of the light green fruit is easily seen when cut in cross section.

Cashew. Cashew nuts grow as the fruit of a tall tree, often up to 40 feet high. The nut is part of a two-part fruit: a orange section that is edible and a heart-shaped nut.

Cassava. The early Indians of the Caribbean, the Taino, first used this root, or yucca, to make flour. Also known as tapioca, cassava is poisonous until it is processed to remove the prussic acid. Today cassava is used to make a bread called bammy.

Chicken foot. Just as it sounds, this is the foot of a chicken and is used to flavor soups and stews, especially in hard times.

Cho-Cho. This member of the squash family is known as chayote or christophene on some islands. It can be served boiled or used in dishes. Don't have any cho-cho? Substitute a squash in the recipe instead.

Cocoa. Cocoa or cacao is grown in Jamaica. Look for these trees on steep slopes, distinctive for their huge pods. The bush is an evergreen but it is often found in the shade of another, larger tree. Look for reddish pods which hold the cocoa beans, used to produce chocolate and cocoa butter.

Coconut. The coconut is a ubiquitous part of Jamaican diet, used for everything from its milk to its meat to its brown shell. Look for signs for "jelly coconut" as you drive the countryside for a taste of sweet goodness. Coconut milk is often used to flavor rice and peas, the number one dish of Jamaica.

Coconut Milk. Not to be confused with coconut water (which is the clear liquid that pours out of a cracked coconut), this milk is "harvested" by squeezing grated coconut that has been soaked in water. The sweet juice is used in baking, mixing drinks, and herbalists say the milk purifies the heart and washes the kidneys.

Conch. You're probably familiar with this mollusk because of its shell: a beautiful pink curl nearly a foot long that, when blown by those in the know, can become an island bullhorn of a whistle. The shell covers a huge piece of white meat in almost a rubbery texture, as well as a "foot," the appendage used by the conch to drag itself along the ocean floor in search of food. To tenderize the conch, the cook scores the meat with a knife, soaks it with lime juice and spices, and sometimes even pounds the meat into submission. The ways of cooking conch are numerous: cracked conch, conch salad, conch chowder, conch fritters, you name it. Many Jamaican men also swear conch is an aphrodisiac.

Crawfish. Freshwater crawfish sold on the side of the road in Middle Quarters, St. Elizabeth.

Dasheen. This root vegetable, called taro in the Pacific countries, is used much like a potato to make soups. Sometimes it is also called a coco yam.

Garden egg. This is the Jamaican name for an eggplant.

Grouper. This large fish makes its appearance on just about every restaurant menu. The mild fish is served broiled, fried, and just about every other imaginable way.


Guava. These small, green fruits are used in many Jamaican desserts such as ice cream, fruit sauces, jellies, and more. Usually the fruit has been blended because of the many pesky seeds.

Guineps. These small green fruits look somewhat like a small lime. To eat one, pop the flesh out form the skin and suck on it (don't eat the seed).

Gungo Peas. These brown peas, also known as congo peas or pigeon peas, are used in soups or rice and are found on the island near the holiday season.

Irish potato. The Irish potato is the white potato, not to be confused with either a yam or sweet potato.

Janga. Janga are crayfish, sold as hot peppered shrimp in Middle Quarters, St. Elizabeth, by women on the side of the road. They're salty, spicy, and as impossible as potato chips to stop eating.

Jelly coconut. Drive through the countryside and you'll find innumerable "cold jelly" signs at small carts. These promise the jelly coconut, the young coconut that yields a clear, sweet jelly. The vendor will whack the coconut with his cutlass (machete), carving a chunk for you to use as an impromptu spoon to scoop out the cold jelly.

Lime. Lime trees grow in profusion in Jamaica and their juice makes its way into many local recipes.

Lobster. Nope, we're not talking Maine lobsters here but the Caribbean rock lobster which make an appearance on many Jamaican menus. The difference? The southern cousin has no claws.

Mammee apple or mammee fruit. This unusual fruit can be tough to find in the markets. Eaten raw or used as a filling, the mammee apple has the taste of a mango and a peach.

Mango. The mango is always present on Jamaica buffets. Long with flat sides, the mango is used in many desserts or, in its green stage, in chutneys and stews. Can't find mangoes in your local store? Substitute a peach.

Okra. This vegetable of African origins is used in many stews and soups.

Ortanique. This hybrid of the orange and the tangerine was developed in Mandeville in the 1900s.

Otaheiti Apple. This apple looks like a small, red pear. It was introduced to Jamaica from Tahiti by the Bounty and today you'll see it on many breakfast buffet spreads.

Oxtail. The oxtail, the tail of a cow, is used to flavor many soups and stews.

Passionfruit. This lovely fruit is used for drinks and ice cream.

Pawpaw (papaya). Jamaicans call the papaya a pawpaw and the product of the exotic-looking papaya tree (tall as a coconut with wide leaves similar to a fig) is found in desserts, juices, and other menu items.

Peanut. The peanut holds an esteemed place in Jamaica and can be found as a drink, a sauce, or just as a roasted snack. Peanut vendors are often seen in the markets.

Pickapeppa Sauce. This sauce, sometimes locally called Parrot Sauce because of the parrot on its label, complements meat, fish, eggs, you name it. It is manufactured at Shooters Hill near Mandeville and is a secret combination of tamarind, onions, tomatoes, sugar, cane vinegar, mangoes, raisins, and spices. Since 1921 the company has produced this savory sauce which has won many awards and is distributed throughout North America. The sauce is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of one year.

Pineapple. Pineapples have been growing in Jamaica since the days of the Taino Indians. Today vendors sell pineapples on the beach, opening the large fruits with a few quick slashes of the cutlass.

Plantains. Don't get plantains mixed up with bananas. They may look similar, but the plantain is not an overgrown banana and tastes nothing like its sweet cousin. Plantains are used in recipes more like a potato and are often served sliced and fried.

Pumpkin. Unlike our sweet pumpkin, this West Indian pumpkin is a small, nonsweet vegetable that is used like an acorn squash. If you can't find a West Indian pumpkin (or calabeza) at home, substitute acorn, Hubbard, or butternut squash.

Saltfish or salted cod. This packaged fish is used for the traditional Jamaican breakfast, ackee and saltfish.

Scotch bonnet. Ah, beware the Scotch bonnet. This innocent-looking little pepper, a small orange bulb, contains the fire of Jamaica. Found in sauces, jerk sauce, and sometimes alone, a little Scotch bonnet goes a long way.

Snapper. Red and yellowtail snapper are favorite offerings by local fishermen.

Sorrel. If you visit a Jamaican home or office during the Christmas season, expect to be served this wonderful drink that can be served alcoholic or non-alcoholic. It is made from sorrel petals, the Hibiscus sabdariffa, an annually blooming plant that matures in December. The red stems and sepals are used to make the sorrel drink or jelly.

Soursop. This green fruit is used to make drinks, ice cream, and other desserts.

Star apple. The local fruit is the main ingredient in a popular holiday dish called matrimony, a mix of star apple and oranges. In many ways similar to an orange and about the same size, the star apple is made up of clear segments. If you slice through the apple you'll see the eight pointed star that gives the fruit its name.

Sweet Potato. The sweet potato is a favorite Jamaican offering. Not to be confused with the yam, which, in Jamaica, is not a sweet vegetable.

Tamarind. Jamaicans make a delightful tamarind juice, prepared from the brown pods of the tamarind tree. It is also an important ingredient in many folk medicine remedies.

Ugli fruit. The ugli fruit is easy to spot because it is so, well, ugly. This bumpy citrus fruit looks like an old grapefruit. Larger produce markets in the US sell the ugli fruit, a native of Jamaica.

Yam. The yam of Jamaica is not to be confused with the sweet potato/yam of the US. These include yellow yams, white yams, and yampee, a smaller variety. Each of these is prepared several different ways so expect to see them boiled and roasted.