Authentic Jamaican Jerk seasoning?

Question

Is this a marinade (liquid), a dry rub (seasonings) or a sauce that's just used with grilled food? I have seen all three versions of jerk. How did it get such a funny name?

Answer 1

Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meats, traditionally pork and goat but including chicken, fish, beef, sausage and tofu, are dry-rubbed with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning principally relies upon two items: allspice (Jamaican pimento) and Scotch bonnet peppers (among the hottest peppers on the Scoville scale). Other ingredients include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic.

Jerk chicken, pork, or fish is said to be at its best when barbecued over aromatic wood charcoal or briquettes. Pimento (allspice) wood or berries placed over coals give jerk its authentic flavor.[who?]

The Quechua word charqui (dried meat) gave the name to both jerk and jerky. Jamaican "jerk" ties well into its first people; American Indian (Tainos) roots, since of all the modern barbecueing processes, in its purest form it corresponds the closest to historical descriptions of the Tainos' method. The Tainos would construct a grid of green sticks some distance above a smoldering fire of green pimento wood (that is, the wood of the allspice tree) in a shallow pit, place meat on the grid and cover it with pimento leaves to impart further flavour while trapping the smoke for maximum effect.

Originally the jerk meat was cut into strips and dried in the sun for use at a later date. A small fire was lit under the meat so that the smoke would prevent flies from laying their eggs on the raw meat. Native Americans also use this method and also call it jerk meat, as was shown in an episode of Ray Mears the survivalist's programme on the BBC. (See also jerky.)

A grill over an open fire suffices in the modern rendition. The widely available pre-made seasoning mixes give a passable jerk flavour to meat baked in a kitchen oven.

Answer 2

The first answer sure gave you the life history of jerk, but did not even come close to answering the question, I am a former chef and worked in Jamaica at a resort hotel many years back and still enjoy jerk today in my own home.

Jerk is a marinade with all the spices she mentioned, along with scallions/green onions, garlic, citrus juice and the spices, all mashed up into a paste and applied to the meats, chicken/duck, fish and sometimes it is mixed into ground pork and made into sausages.

Marinade for 24 hours, 48 is best and then roast or grill, I do it both ways getting the meat cooked and then like BBQ sauce finishing in the BBQ for a smokey flavour ending. It is available as a spice rub dry, but this is just the spices not the flavours of the ground onions and garlic with the citrus juice, all helping to flavour, tenderize and cure the meat for cooking. You can buy pre-made pastes, dry seasoning or be adventurous and make it from scratch, just be careful if you use the real scotch bonnet peppers, they are flaming hot, so half of one or a bit of chili flakes is fine for those with a milder palate.