Fruit of a West African Evergreen Tree (Blighia Sapida) named for Captain Bligh who introduced it to Jamaica. Ackee is actually poisonous until it ripen-the yellow flesh surrounding the black seeds is the only edible part, It look like scrambled eggs when cooked. Ackee is most often served with Salted Cod Fish (Saltfish) which forms our National Dish known as well, Ackee and Saltfish. Read More About Ackee
Medicinal plant which is know as sinkle bible in Jamaica.
Allspice also known as Pimento is a dark brown berry of an evergreen tree that grows abundantly in Jamaica. When dried, the berries resemble peppercorn. If you can imagine the combined flavor of nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove, you have the flavor of pimento.
Called Pear in Jamaica, originally from Mexico, avocados are now grown in most tropical and semi-tropical climates. Avocados are very healthy—a good source of ten different nutrients, and even higher in potassium than bananas.
A flat cake made of cassava which is deep-fried.
Common in early island cooking for wrapping certain dishes, we mostly see the same done in foil and parchment paper these days. The leaves impart a very special, delicate flavor to the dishes. Read More About Banana Leaves
Spicy ground beef baked in a pastry shell. There are also Chicken and shrimp patties.
Cola nut is sometimes dried and used as a medicine.
Originally found in the South Pacific, made famous in the Caribbean by being introduced by Captain Bligh. A large green fruit, it is only edible after being cooked. It is found in many local soups and can be roasted when ripe (when it turns to a yellowish color). We rarely think of this as a fruit.
A round flat cake made with flour and dark sugar.
Basically used as a generic term throughout the islands for any tea made from local herbs. Bush tea, which is often made from one or several indigenous herbs, is considered to be a natural remedy for any form of sickness known to man, from treating the effects of the common cold (cold bush) to relieving the pain of menstrual cramps or even warding off asthma attacks.
A leafy green plant that is edible when cooked, resembling spinach. Read More about Callaloo
Sugar Cane is a bamboo-like plant whose by-products include sugar, rum, and molasses. Read More About Sugar Cane
The leaves of the plant are used for making tea. The tea is bitter in taste and believed to cure all manner of illness.
Acerola, also called West Indian Cherry or Barbados Cherry, is a soft, juicy, thin-skinned fruit with orange-yellow flesh.
An edible root that is a member of the squash family. It is eaten boiled and looks like a small pear, and can be green or white in color.
Large, round, hard-shelled nut with a white pulp and hollow interior. Green coconuts give you water and young jelly. Dried coconut yields coconut milk—grated coconut mixed with water and strained is used in many dishes like rice and peas and all sorts of other dishes. Coconuts are also heavily used in desserts and beverages. Oil is extracted from the nuts and has a wide range of uses. Read More About Coconut
Transported to the Caribbean from India, this mixture of spices varies from island to island, and even from dish to dish. The prepared curries can be a mixture of up to twenty different ground spices.
Also known as Tie a leaf or Blue Drawer, it is a pudding made from cornmeal or green bananas, coconut, sugar, and spices. It is wrapped in a green banana leaf.
Spanish for pickled, it is used to describe a method of cooking in oil and vinegar, or cooked and then pickled in an oil and vinegar marinade. Read More about Escovitch Sauce
A sweet deep-fried combination of flour and cornmeal.
The Jamaican name for marijuana.
Also known as Guineps, the fruit of the Genip tree looks like enormous grapes, and are eaten the same way. With a flavor that runs from slightly tart to slightly sweet.
Probably a native of Asia, it is most often used in its raw form. It is used in everything from main courses to sides and, like nutmeg, is even grated into beverages here in the Caribbean.
Used in the Caribbean to describe yam, sweet potato, cassava, etc. Provisions from the ground.
Round or pear-shaped fruit similar in size and appearance to the common guava. The rind is yellow, enclosing a white acidic pulp with a guava-strawberry flavor. It is eaten fresh, but often used instead to make jellies and preserves.
Green and brown peas used in many Jamaican dishes. Also known as pigeon or Congo peas.
The largest tree-borne fruit in the world. The average-sized fruits are 1-2 feet long and 9-12 inches wide. The skin is green-yellow, with small spiky knobs. The flesh is custard yellow with a banana-like flavor. Fruits may sometimes emit a foul-smelling odor emanating from the skin.
Small river crayfish.
Slow-roasted meat prepared with a mixture of pepper, pimento, garlic, scallions, salt, and the cook's secret ingredients. Read More about Jerk
Nothing more than fried dough (Fried Dumpling).
Also known as Jew Plum, an oval-shaped fruit with green skin and a prickly seed which turns yellow when ripe. June plum may be eaten green or ripe or made into juice.
From an evergreen tree native to Asia, and now a Caribbean staple. From juice to cocktails, appetizers to desserts, ripe and unripe, mangoes are in everything Caribbean. Read More about Mango
Soup of goat meat mainly made from the head of a ram (male) goat and vegetables.
Medicinal plants are those plants used for curing certain ailments and skin remedies.
Molasses is the by-product (the residue) of refining sugar cane and along with rum (distilled molasses is fermented to make rum).
Also known as Sapodilla, a small kiwi-like fruit. It has thin edible skin with a pale brown sweet pulp with inedible black seeds around the center.
Also known as Paw-Paw, green, orange, or yellow fruit, often quite large and weighing several pounds. Fruits tend to be very fleshy, with an inside cavity containing numerous seeds. The flesh is sweet, sometimes mildly acidic, with a texture much like that of a melon.
A thick, yellowish-skinned fruit (about the size of an egg) filled with small edible black seeds.
The big brother of the banana family, there are different uses for the green, semi-ripe, ripe, and overripe plantains, but they all must be cooked before eating. Another one of those fruits that is served as a vegetable. Read More About Plantain
A rice dish made from rice cooked with peas (kidney or gungo peas), and coconut milk and various seasonings.
Roots tonics have long been staples in Jamaican grassroots culture. It is said that these roots can cure many illnesses, and significantly, they are known for their ability to enhance sexual performance. The names of the roots include Chainy Roots, Sarsaparilla, Blood Wiss, Dandelion, Raw Moon, Tan Pan Rock, Search Mi Heart, Hug-Mi-Tight, Coconut Root, Banana Roots, Strong Back, and Medina.
Rum is the distilled spirit made from sugarcane.
Salted mackerel cooked in coconut milk to a custard.
Saltfish / Codfish is the Caribbean name for dried salted fish, encompassing several varieties of fish used in island cooking. It must be soaked overnight and cleaned before cooking.
A term used for spice mix with many variations, but basically made from thyme, garlic, parsley, onion, and chili. Like many other local condiments, it is made in advance and kept ready to use.
This particular orange is large, with rough reddish-orange skin. The pulp is far too acidic to be eaten raw, but the juice is used a great deal in juice and also in meat and poultry dishes.
A flowering plant from which drinks and wine are made, often served during the Christmas holidays.
Soursop is the spiny, dark green fruit of a tropical American tree with delicately tart and delicious pulp. It is used mainly in drinks, ice cream, and sorbets.
Round, baseball-sized fruit that when cut has a core that takes on a star shape. The pulp is soft and sweet. The star apple usually comes in two forms, either the dark purple-skinned variety with red-purple pulp, or the green-skinned variety with clear-white pulp.
Stinking toe refers to the large seedpod of the West Indian Locust, Hymenaea courbaril, commonly called the stinking toe or old man's toe tree, one of the largest trees in the Caribbean. The seedpods look like big fat toes and the mealy pulp around the seeds, although foul-smelling, is edible and good tasting.
A green spiny fruit, with a white soft pulp which is sweet in taste.
Sweet potatoes grow on a trailing perennial plant and usually have reddish-brown skins and flesh that ranges from white to deep orange. What is most often referred to in the U.S. as a yam that is so popular at Thanksgiving is not a yam at all, but a sweet potato.
A flat, bean-like fruit in a brittle brown shell containing sticky, brown acidic pulp and flat seeds. The pulp is what is eaten and used in cooking.
An herb from the mint family, one of the most widely used herbs in Jamaica.
A porridge made from cornmeal cooked with salt fish and/or meat and coconut milk.
A starchy root vegetable belonging to the genus Dioscorea. They can be white, yellow, or purple. The "true" yam is native to Africa and Asia, and it is distinct from the sweet potato.