making and cooking with homemade jamaican jerk rub seasoning

The weather’s getting sorta warm here in the Northeast which means it’s the start of the bbq season.  Now, say Jamaica and several things are bound to come to mind:  reggae, dub, and ska music, weed, Blue Mountain coffee, pot, hot tropical weather, ganja, Bob Marley, dope, and of course Jerk seasoning/bbq.  For me throw in awesome culture, some of the nicest locals you could find (contrary to what many say), a beautiful landscape, and some of the most delicious food around.

By da beach.

Anyway, initially used to help preserve meat in the searing island heat, Jerk is a highly seasoned, hot as hell spice rub consisting of at a minimum pimento (allspice), Scotch Bonnet/habanero peppers (the hottest naturally occurring peppers in the world), scallion, thyme, garlic, and salt.  My Jerk adds a few other traditional and less traditional ingredients:

Ingredients:

One third of a small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic

A half inch ‘nub’ of fresh ginger, peeled and diced

5-6 habanero or scotch bonnet peppers.  If you like insane heat keep the seeds and ribs and throw in a few more.  If you can’t stand the heat remove the ribs and seeds.

3 scallions, green and white parts, diced

1 tsp ground allspice –fresh is better

.25 tsp ground cinnamon

.25 tsp ground clove

1 tsp lime juice.  Fresh only

1.5 TBS orange juice.  Fresh only

1.5 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp dried thyme

Fresh ground pepper

1.5 tsp salt

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and pulse until a paste.  Add a bit of water to thin out, if necessary.

Once in paste form the Jerk will be like tear gas infused napalm –let it settle down for 5 minutes before you taste, smell, and/or remove from the blender/food processor.

Rub a spoonful or two of the Jerk to chicken or any meat and let it sit in the fridge for at least 8 hours to let the flavors develop.

Grill over low heat (add wood chunks for smoke, if you have em’) until cooked.  No grill?  Bake in a 350 degree oven until fully cooked.

Serve with:

Red Stripe, grilled pineapple, rice and peas, and healthy servings of Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, and Bob Marley.

Liquid hell. I love it.