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| English: The Jamaican national dish of ackee and saltfish. Side dish-fabulous cole slaw! Ackee is a fruit, but tastes like scrambled eggs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: Jerk chicken, rice, honey biscuit plantain (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The best way to prepare your taste buds for dining in another country is to begin dining weekly in ethnic restaurants in your hometown city. My definition of an ethnic restaurant is a family-owned restaurant or food truck serving inexpensive home cooked meals. Usually the owners are first-generation immigrants who prepare and cook meals as they would in their home country.
Jamaica is a great country for a first-time Black traveler to experience an international destination because the cuisine is close to soul food. Some Jamaican dishes that are similar to African-American soul food include chicken, beans and rice and cabbage. However, the difference is in the seasoning of the chicken with Famous Spicy Hot Jamaican Jerk Sauce. It is a special blend of spices and seasonings which include nutmeg, Jamaican pimento, mace, onions, green peppers, hot scotch bonnet peppers which can be poured on chicken, pork, beef, or fish to marinate overnight and then grilled over hot coals.
Chicago has tons of Jamaican restaurants for you to sample the cuisine before booking your Caribbean Jamaica vacation to Montego Bay. One of my favorite Jamaican restaurants is Kingston’s Jerk Chicken which is located on the Chicago’s Southside Beverly area near 95th & Western Avenue. I love the flavorful authentic Jamaican cuisine at this local eatery. It is a great lunch spot with its intimate dining area. I recommend the Jerk with rice and peas (which is a Jamaican term for red beans and rice), callaloo (cabbage) and plantains ( sweet fried bananas). “It tastes irie man” which means in Jamaican Patois “it tastes good”. This authentic taste of Jamaica illuminates my mind with visions of Dunn River Falls and the music of Jamaican Rasta man, Bob Marley’s reggae song “One Love”.
If you wish to experience Jamaican cuisine in a more upscale caribbean ambience, then head to Uncle Joe’s Tropical Dining in the Bronzeville area of Chicago’s Southside. Jamaican lifestyle is a slow and mellow groove, so you should not expect fast American service. Slow down and enjoy the music and the experience of being transported to Jamaica.
Kingston’s Jerk Chicken and Uncle Joe’s Tropical Dining are owned by the same proprietors, so dining at either one of these restaurants is the “irie” way to prepare your tastebuds for a caribbean vacation to Jamaica.
