Jamaica has a rich food heritage but much of it is in danger of being lost to a younger generation as our taste becomes more cosmopolitan and our hotels and restaurants cater to an international audience. Kitchens and kitchen settings like these will stir memories but are rarely found in modern Jamaica and certainly not in urban areas!
The Jamaican food scene is still largely dominated by home trained cooks operating ‘cookshops’ islandwide and by food shows at home and in the Diaspora in the form of jerk and ‘pan’ festivals. But Jamaican cuisine is much more than jerk pork and pan chicken. There is a new generation of institution-trained chefs and food stylists who are making use of Jamaican products and coming up with new and creative ways of preparing and presenting dishes. These graduates of the University of Technology and HEART academies are now found in hotels and restaurants across the island, providing catering services and otherwise running small businesses providing packaged foods.
Some examples of the creative use of Jamaican foods and variations in the preparation and presentation of dishes are :
Our graduate chefs also ensure than traditional Jamaican sweets in particular can be found in the dessert sections of many of the hotel restaurants, introducing them to visitors and making old favourites accessible to visiting Jamaicans. Visiting Jamaicans should therefore not be surprised to find :
Other images from the food fair:
There are many books available from which one can learn to prepare Jamaican dishes. Here is a small sample.
