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Jamaica is famous for Jerking, a cooking technique unique among Jamaicans. Jerk sauce, a blend of spices, is used to marinate and flavor the chicken, which is then slow roasted. The Jamaica Jerk chicken is the most famous Jerking recipe.
Jerking is a method of cooking in vogue since the days of the Carib-Arawak native who used to live in Jamaica. They used to kill and cook it whole, making incisions in the meat where they would put in a blend of spices. This method has been further refined and at present Jamaican Jerk chicken is a popular recipe worldwide because of its characteristic taste and flavor.
Jerk spice is made of mixing three basic spices - allspice berries, Scotch Bonnet peppers, and thyme. Very often other ingredients are added to these three according to preferences, including garlic, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, soy sauce etc. This sauce is the main ingredient in cooking Jamaican Jerk chicken.
The Jerk sauce is then applied to the chicken in a variety of different techniques - sometimes it is rubbed or massaged into the chicken, sometimes the chicken is coated with it, sometimes incisions are made in the chicken where the sauce it put in. after application of the sauce, the chicken is marinated, usually overnight, enabling the flavors to transfer to the chicken effectively.
The marinated chicken is then barbecued or slow roasted on a fire fed mainly by branches of the allspice tree. The generous amount of smoke produced imparts a characteristic taste and aroma to the chicken. Other aromatic wood can also be used in place of allspice branches.
Jamaican Jerk chicken is usually served with traditional hard dough bread, or with steamed or fried dumplings.
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