Pirates, Jamaica and the Best Jerk Chicken Salad Ever

Errol Flynn as my favorite Pirate of the Caribbean, Captain Blood

Memorial Day will soon fling open the gates to a new summer and turn my thoughts to Jerk Chicken Salad –– Jerk Chicken Salad means Memorial Day for me.

I wrote about my Memorial Day visits to Vermont (HERE) and the food-fest of grilling and eating that goes on there for days and days. The grilled salmon, duck breast and pork take center stage for dinner but part of the schedule of the massive grill is always reserved for the making of jerk chicken for my friend Kath’s Jerk Chicken Salad.

It’s a recipe from an old 90’s cookbook that I don’t recall the name of but whoever conceived of its extravagant flavors deserves a medal.  It is a great recipe with banana ketchup and heat –– lots of heat via the melting pot of world spices that is Jamaica.

I always think of pirates when I think of Jamaica. Even after the Pirate mecca Port Royale was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692, Jamaica had a notorious reputation as a pirate haven. Why do we love pirates and their hangouts? When I read the following descriptions of Jamaica from the golden age of Pirates (the 17th and early 18th centuries) I can see why –– the wicked, wicked ways (that have been rather sanitized in film portrayals) of deliciously bad boys are irresistible.

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

Ned Ward’s 1697 account of Jamaica (quoted in a great article on Jamaican food by British Food in America) said it was the “Dunghill of the Universe, the Receptacle of Vagabonds, the Sanctuary of Bankrupts, the close-stool for the purges of our prisons, as hot as hell, and as wicked as the Devil.”  It was called The Sodom of the Indies and its pleasures included drinking, wenching, gambling and fencing stolen goods –– a perfect location for Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow or Errol Flynn’s Captain Blood –– and hot and spicy Jerked pork and chicken.

 

The food of the island was a mix of the cuisines of Britain, Africa, India and China that met thanks to Jamaica’s ports and the trading of its sugar, coffee, chocolate and other valuable commodities the rich land provided.  Jamaica had a lot to trade with and the hard living inhabitants came to love spicy, grilled food. The fact that the hot humid climate made meat go off in the blink of an eye may have had something to do with the fashion for spicy smoking as well.  I had a bottle of hot sauce that I got on a visit to the islands that remained good for years –– nothing can grow in that many Scoville Units to make it go off. The appetite for jerk remained long after the pirates moved on.  

Dave DeWitt of Fiery Foods quoted a Hans Sloane, 1707:  “[Wild hogs were] “cut open, the bones taken out, and the flesh is gash'd on the inside into the skin, fill'd with salt and expos'd to the sun, which is call'd jirking... [This meat was] brought home to their masters by the hunters, and eats much as bacon, if broil'd on coals.”  

 

DeWitt also posited "The technique of jerking was originated by the Maroons, Jamaican slaves who escaped from the British during the invasion of 1655 and hid in the maze of jungles and limestone sinkholes known as the Cockpit Country. The Maroons seasoned the pork and cooked it until it was dry and would preserve well in the humidity of the tropics. During the twentieth century, the technique gained enormous popularity in Jamaica and today "jerk pork shacks" are commonly found all over Jamaica. The method has evolved, however, and the pork is no longer overcooked." 

There is a theory that the Maroon technique of pit cooking was a way to keep telltale smoke to a minimum and evade capture –– the delicious smokiness was a lucky by-product.  Some feel the earlier inhabitants of the island, the Carib and Arawak Indians were the ones who started using spice and citrus to preserve meat in the hot climate and the Maroons merely borrowed the recipe and innovated the cooking technique.

One of the secrets of true Jamaican jerk is pimento wood.  Don’t worry, if that got you confused you are not alone.  It has nothing to do with little scraggly green pepper plants.  No, it’s actually the greenwood of the allspice tree (although orange and guava wood or laurel wood is also smoked).  It seems you can buy it in the US and Canada if you want to do it properly but a pimento wood expert said fruitwood (like apple) would be a good alternative if not authentic.  Also, the time tested jerk technique involves thick sticks of green wood that are set between the meat and the grill so that the pimento wood touches the meat and both smokes and flavors it over the long cooking time.  Pimento leaves are also added to the smoke mixture.

Recipes for Jerk are as varied as those of spaghetti sauce and have evolved over time.  It seems originally it was salt and a lot of pepper but the mix is now more complex including Scotch bonnet peppers and even rum –– I add rum to my jerk recipe and love it. Although the jerk recipe is blazing hot, grilling cools it down considerably.  Don't be afraid!  Do take care when working with scotch bonnets as they can burn your eyes and nose if you touch them –– do wash your hands well after making this.

If you don’t have access to a grill you can make this in the oven but it won’t be as great –– the smoke is key to its greatness –– do use any fruitwood chips or sticks soaked in water when you make this even on a gas grill.  I think it is the perfect dish to bring to a holiday event, and was the first thing that came to mind when Creative Cooking Crew challenge was announced as a picnic potluck.  I’m crazy about it and think you will be too.

Oh, I thought for the grilling season I'd share a favorite thing with you.  A zillion years ago, a friend brought a brilliant housewarming present for a weekend.  It was a stack of melamine plates that looked like Provençal pottery but were unbreakable.  In the many years I have used them, I've gotten so many compliments and requests,  "Where did you get them?" Mine came from a place in the Hamptons but I looked up a resource for them for you –– you can get them HERE or HERE.  Since they are light and unbreakable, they go easily from kitchen to picnic table and last forever –– taking a dozen to the picnic table won't require a trip to the back doctor!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Banana Guava Ketchup serves 6-8

1 recipe for jerked chicken cooled, bones removed and chicken chopped roughly –– skin included.

1 recipe banana ketchup (you may want to use  ¾ of it depending on how sweet you like it and reserve the rest, taste and decide)

1 large red onion, chopped

½ c mayonnaise

1 c chopped parsley
additional salt to taste

You should have around 7 cups of chicken.  Add red onion, ketchup, parsley and mayo and toss for Kathy’s best jerk chicken salad.

Serve with salad greens –– I like the bitter ones with this like radicchio, arugula, friseé and endive.

Jerk Chicken

½ c Inner Beauty hot sauce or 10 scotch bonnet chilis

2 T  Fresh rosemary

2 T  Fresh parsley

2T Fresh basil

2T Fresh thyme
½ to 1 t allspice

2 T mustard seeds

3 scallions finely chopped

1 t salt

1 t pepper

juice of 2 limes

¼ c yellow hot dog mustard

2 T orange juice

2 T white wine vinegar

2 T rum

6 chicken thighs with legs

Combine ingredients and put in a blender or processor to have the texture of tomato sauce. If it’s too thick, thin with vinegar.  Let paste sit for 2 hours.  Rub on thighs and grill over low heat to get as much smoke as possible–– I'd say 1/2 an hour at least.  I added more wood chips mid-way to get maximum smoke.

Banana Ketchup (freezes well)

1 yellow onion

2 T oil

5 ripe bananas

4 oz guava paste -- although I have used 1/2 c guava nectar successfully

2 T brown sugar

2 1/2 T raisins

1 T curry powder

½ c fresh orange juice

2 T white vinegar

2 T lime

s & pepper

Sauté onion in oil 5-7 minutes.  Add banana and cook 5 minutes.  Add guava paste and the rest of the ingredients save 1 T vinegar and 1 T lime juice and boil. Then simmer 15 minutes till the consistency of applesauce.  Add remaining 1T of vinegar, lime juice and s & p.