Jamaican cuisine is characterized by a mixture of cooking techniques, flavors and spices and it is a perfect example of many influences this island country in the Caribbean Sea experienced through its turbulent history.

According to most historians, Jamaica was founded by Taíno, an Arawak people, who were members of the Caribbean’s Indigenous population. They named the island Xaymaca, meaning land of wood and water.
Jamaica was mainly a peaceful country inhabited by the indigenous Taíno and Arawaks people, until the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, followed by the fall under Spanish rule and eradication of most indigenous people who were either killed or died of diseases. After that, the colonials brought African slaves to Jamaica as laborers, and with them came the first foreign influences on Jamaican cuisine. The fruit of the most popular and national Jamaican dish, Ackee, was, for example, brought to the Island by West African people. Escaping the inquisition in the 1500s, Portuguese Jews brought the other important ingredient of this dish – salted codfish – which quickly became very vital to enslaved Africans as a long-lasting, affordable protein.

In 1655 England (later Great Britain) conquered the island named Santiago by the Spanish and renamed it Jamaica. Under new colonial rule, Jamaica quickly became a leading sugar exporter. This success was highly dependent on the African slaves. But many escaped enslavement and found refuge in the island’s mountains, becoming known as Maroons – derived from the Spanish word cimarrones, meaning mountaineers. Soon they encountered the remains of the island’s original inhabitants which led to shared culinary traditions.
When the British finally emancipated all slaves in 1838, many chose to have their own small farms rather than work on plantations, resulting in a lack of workforce. Therefore a large number of people from China and India were brought to Jamaica as laborers and with them, they brought their culinary influence such as curry spices that are present in many traditional Jamaican dishes.

Although Jamaican cuisine includes a lot of foreign ingredients, a very important part of many dishes are many local ingredients, especially scotch bonnet pepper, sweet potatoes and cassava root.
In recent history, an important influence on Jamaican cuisine also had the Rastafarian movement and its vegetarian approach to preparing food, cooking, and eating. Rastas introduced a lot of vegetarian dishes to Jamaican cuisine, which is still heavily dependent on meat, mainly pork. Through the Rastafarian movement, a new ital diet based on natural ingredients and free from additives and chemicals was developed. More about the ital diet you can find out in our post about Jamaican Corn Soup.

Jamaican cuisine is full of various colourful, flavourful dishes. It is diverse, a blend of many cultures that perfectly reflect its national motto: “Out of many, one people”.
Breakfast is very important in Jamaican cuisine, so it is not a wonder that the national dish – Ackee and Fish is usually served for breakfast. Other famous breakfast dishes include seasoned callaloo, boiled green bananas, and fried dumplings. Furthermore, Jamaicans love soups not only as appetizers but also as main lunch and dinner dishes. There are almost an endless number of soup types, such as Chicken Foot Soup, Red Peas Soup or Corn Soup. Other popular Jamaican dishes include Curry Goat, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Run Down, and many different types of Jamaican patties.

Jamaican cuisine is a tasty blend of different food cultures without which it probably wouldn’t be the same country. So we invite you to try some Jamaican dishes and become a truly enriched person.