To make jerk seasoning, whisk a tablespoon each of ground allspice, dried thyme, brown sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder with a teaspoon each of cayenne, black pepper, salt, and smoked paprika, and half a teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Use a tablespoon per pound, and give it at least an hour on the meat.
What is jerk seasoning?
Jerk is a cooking tradition before it is a jar: meat seasoned hard and cooked slowly over smoke, and the seasoning is built on the island's own tree. Allspice, called pimento in Jamaica, is native there, and its berry tastes like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg speaking at once. Around it stand thyme, scallion and garlic, fierce chili heat, brown sugar, and the warm spices that echo what allspice already started.
The fresh tradition is a wet marinade pounded from scotch bonnets, scallions, thyme, and ginger. The dry blend is the shelf version of the same argument, with cayenne standing in for scotch bonnet and onion and garlic powders holding the ground for the fresh aromatics. It gives real jerk character to a weeknight chicken thigh, and it converts to the wet style with lime juice and a minced scotch bonnet whenever there is time to do it fully.
What goes in jerk seasoning?
- ·1 tbsp ground allspice
- ·1 tbsp dried thyme
- ·1 tbsp brown sugar
- ·1 tbsp garlic powder
- ·1 tbsp onion powder
- ·1 tsp cayenne (more if you mean it)
- ·1 tsp black pepper
- ·1 tsp salt
- ·1 tsp smoked paprika
- ·1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ·1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- ·1/2 tsp ground ginger
Allspice and thyme in equal measure at the top, that pairing is what reads as jerk. The cayenne here is a polite starting point, the tradition it imitates is scotch bonnet country, so escalate with a clear conscience.
How do you make jerk seasoning?
- Whisk everything together until even.
- Jar it sealed, away from light. Full strength for about three months.
- As a rub: one tablespoon per pound of chicken, pork, or fish with a little oil, at least an hour, overnight is better.
- As a wet jerk: blend three tablespoons with the juice of two limes, two tablespoons of oil, four scallions, and a scotch bonnet.
- Cook over real fire when you can, jerk without smoke is a good rub, jerk with smoke is the tradition.
What should you know before making jerk seasoning?
- Time matters more than technique. An overnight rest lets the allspice and thyme get past the surface, an hour is the honest minimum.
- Grill over charcoal if at all possible, adding a few soaked allspice berries to the coals is the closest a backyard gets to pimento wood.
- It is not just for chicken: pork shoulder, salmon, shrimp, tofu, and roasted sweet potatoes all take it well.
Where did jerk seasoning come from?
Jerk comes from Jamaica's interior, where Maroons, escaped enslaved people who built free communities in the mountains, seasoned wild pork and cooked it slowly over pimento wood, a technique with roots in both Taino and West African cooking. The method moved from the hills to roadside pans and jerk centers across the island, and the seasoning followed it around the world.
What can you make from jerk seasoning?
Common questions.
What is jerk seasoning made of?
Ground allspice and dried thyme in the lead, with brown sugar, garlic, onion, cayenne, black pepper, and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. The fresh version adds scallions, ginger, and scotch bonnet peppers.
Is jerk seasoning very spicy?
The tradition is, scotch bonnets are central to real jerk. A homemade dry blend is as hot as you make it, the teaspoon of cayenne here is medium, and the ceiling is yours.
What is the difference between jerk seasoning and jerk marinade?
Form. The dry blend is shelf-stable and works as a rub in an hour. The marinade is the fresher, fuller expression, the same flavors plus lime, oil, scallions, and scotch bonnet, blended wet and given more time.