JERK PORK AND SPIKED RED STRIPE SAUCE
REAL flavours of Jamaica!
welcome back, heres issue number #4 of unfiltered flavours+
Jerk pork, where do I start? It’s the SINGLE reason I’ll never EVER be able to give up pork. It’s truly one of the best bits of meat you’ll eat. It’s so incredibly rich in flavour and that’s partially down the marinade. All that seasoning means absolutely nothing if you don’t smoke the meat though.
Jerk dates back to my ancestors from the Maroon tribe, runaway enslaved people who lived in the hills of Jamaica during the 17th century. They created the dish by mixing a variety of spices and rubbing them onto the meat, which was then cooked slowly over a fire pit in the ground so they would go undetected, as it released minimal smoke. The result is a dish which is a perfect combination of smoky and tender.
Jerk pork doesn’t openly get the love it deserves, maybe people eat in secret because they don’t want people to know they eat pork haha! What I will tell you is I’m picking jerk pork over jerk chicken any day of the week. If you asked me what my death row meal would be, it would be this.
Jerk isn’t the seasoning. Jerk is a method and it doesn’t matter how great your marinade is, you’ll never make authentic jerk if it’s not cooked over fire. It’s a real pain point of mine when I go to a restaurant and can blatantly tell they’ve just put the meat in the oven. Jerk has deep history and its history is connected to slavery. So to me, it’s incredibly important that we don’t dilute this.
Of course cooking is fun and we don’t have access to the same kitchens and equipment. The marinade is so incredibly rich and bold that you can honestly make recipes with it and using the marinade to your hearts desires, but just don’t call it jerk, because jerk is the METHOD, not seasoning!