When I was living in Hong Kong and Japan, I could hardly see any Jamaican food. Surrounded by Asian culture, I didn’t look for it either, and we all seemed to be comfortably only eating Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and, of course, Chinese food.
Here in Bristol it is different. I have plenty of choices of Asian food (quality is another issue lol), plus there are numerous Caribbean restaurants blooming into a growing trend. Perhaps it’s because of history?
The first touch I had with Caribbean food was Turtle Bay. It gave me the impression that Caribbean food is about jerk. Obviously, it was not the case when I tried Caribbean Croft, which served on a traditional menu and popped up with a good Google rating among those Caribbean restaurants.
Traditional Jamaican Food
My first try of Jamaican cuisine presented a lot of new foods to me – including Jamaican’s popular salt fish, national fruit ackee, local leafy callaloo, long-heard fried plantain and much more. Here is what we ate:
Stamp and Go
What is Stamp and Go? It’s a salt fish (bacalhau) fritter, a traditional Jamaican street food. History showed the British used to have this fritter before sailing, as it is quick to grab and easy to store.
There were 2 generous sizes of fried salt fish with some pickled red peppers and onions, served with a mayo sauce. The fish was not that salty and a bit dry though.
Ackee and Mushroom
Another classic Jamaican dish is Ackee and Saltfish, but I ordered a vegetarian version as we had the stamp and go for starter. What I loved about this dish is there were so many different elements I’d never tried before!
First, the ackee. It’s Jamaica’s national fruit which is cooked and used as a vegetable. Ackee itself had not so much taste to be honest, and the texture was soft like scrambled egg. But the spices were so strong that I didn’t even know I was eating ackee.
Second, the callaloo, a Caribbean country’s local grown dark green leafy. If I got a chance, I must eat callaloo plainly since I couldn’t distinguish its flavour when spiced.
Third, the fried plantain. Well, I quite liked it! As you may imagine – it was like a fried unripe banana with a hint of sweetness.
Fourth, the green banana. This one was interesting too because it had no flavour at all!
Fifth, the shelly white rice. Now I know the Jamaicans like to cook white rice with a little salt and some Chiffon margarine to season the rice and make it not sticking.
Curried Goat
How tempting is the curried goat! As you can feel, the meat is so tender that chewing may not required. With a deep and rich flavour with a wild spice kick, this much rice was simply not enough for us to clean up the plate!
Next time you want to try it, bear in mind that Jamaican food (or all Caribbean food) is flavoured with spices and chillis, meaning it can be quite HOT! Don’t forget to tell the staff about the chilli level as they can adjust it. 🙂
