Monday, July 14, 2008

jerk

alrighty then, who knows what jerk is, really? I mean, I kind of know what it is ("it's a jamican spice" right?), but not really.



from wikipedia:
Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meats (traditionally pork and goat, but now including chicken, fish, beef, sausage and even tofu) are dry-rubbed with a fiery spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning principally relies upon two items: allspice (Jamaican pimento) and Scotch bonnet peppers (among the hottest peppers on the Scoville scale). Other ingredients include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, which are mixed together to form a marinade which is rubbed onto pork, chicken, or fish.

Jerk is on of those things that scares the bejeesus out of me. I . . . I'm afraid of it. I'm not afraid to say it, I fear the jerk.

anyhoo, I'm reading "the times" one lovely sunday morning and what do I find but an excellent article about jerk. check this out (emphasis added):

"This is a dish that is ours, not coming from England like the patty, or from India like the roti," said Winston Currie, owner of the Best Jerk Center in St. Ann, Jamaica. "Real Jamaicans can eat jerk every day; we never get tired of it."

If you want to read "the times" click the link above. if you want to read about the jerk story (not talking about the jerk store, mind you) then click on this link right here.

now, after all this, you might ask: are you any less afraid of the jerk?

A: no, now that I know more about it, now I fear it even more. seems very complicated. but! I wish I were back in NYC so that I could go to brooklyn and get some of the real thing.

let me ask you - why do you have to be a registered user to read past articles on the new york times web page but, on the web page of the international herald tribune the global edition of the new york times, you don't?

3 comments:

jay mcg said...

does anyone know of any good and authentic jerk places in seattle or portland?

Reese McG said...

you should post this on yelp. i bet the seattle yelpers would know. yeah.

and i am not afraid of jerk, for the record.

jay mcg said...

you're not, huh? well, good luck procuring wood from the allspice tree to make the smoke. serve it up! :)