Jamaica is the source of several unique foods and drinks that have become popular and appreciated around the world. The following are just five of these Jamaican treats.
1) Blue Mountain Coffee
Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is known worldwide for its wonderful flavor. It is one of the most sought-after of the world’s coffees, and one of the most costly. Eighty percent of the island’s Blue Mountain Coffee is exported to Japan, but it is available at most of the world’s upscale coffee establishments.
2) Jerk Chicken and Pork
Jerk-style of cooking has is origin in Jamaica. In jerk cooking, meats are prepared with a dry rub and/or marinated in a blend of spices/sauce and smoked over pimento wood charcoal on an open-pit fire. Today, jerk cooking is often done in a “drum pan” or old oil barrel instead of an open pit. Traditionally, jerk cooking was used for pork and chicken, but it is now applied to other foods, including fish, shrimp and other shellfish, beef, sausage, and even tofu.
3) Ting
Ting is a non-alcoholic grapefruit drink produced by Desnoes & Geddes Limited. It has become very popular around the world. First produced in 1978, the drink is flavored with Jamaican grapefruit juice, which makes it tart and sweet at the same time. Its green and yellow packaging has made it recognizable globally as a true Jamaican drink.
4) Jamaican Patty
The Jamaican patty is one of Jamaica’s major exports. The patties can be found throughout the world, including in European airports. The traditional patty filling uses ground beef, but now fillings may include chicken, vegetables, shrimp, lobster, fish, soy, ackee, and cheese.
5) Red Stripe Beer
Red Stripe is Jamaica’s signature beer. Brewed by Desnoes & Geddes, a firm that started as a soft drink manufacturer in Jamaica in 1918, Red Stripe’s unique packaging and entertaining advertising campaign has created a great demand for the beverage around the world.