For many travellers, the food is the best part of the trip. Jamaican cooking reflects the island’s mixed heritage and has made its spices and recipes famous worldwide. A day of eating might start with ackee and saltfish, continue with a patty for lunch and end with stew peas and white rice alongside a glass of apple juice. There is something for fruit lovers, vegetarians, meat eaters and juice drinkers alike. This page walks through the main categories.
Fruit and vegetables
Anyone who loves fruit will be happy here. Many visitors admit to spending days eating little else. Look for jelly coconut, sugar cane, melon, pear, banana, naseberry, soursop, ortanique, papaya, mango, guinep, June plum, nutmeg, tamarind, guava and Otaheite apple.
Pastries and sweets
Many local pastries use island fruit and are sold in supermarkets, on roadsides and in corner shops. Try coconut gizzada, banana fritters, plantain tarts, grater cake, coconut drops, tamarind balls, guava cheese, cheesecake and apple pie. They are easy to overindulge in.
Main dishes
Jerk pork gets the attention, but locals also eat ackee and saltfish, seafood, stew peas, cow foot, curried goat, tripe and beans, and many stewed, curried, fried or baked chicken and beef dishes.
Snacks
Banana chips and plantain chips, made from home-grown fruit, are popular, and exports of them rise every year. Most visitors take a bag home.
Side dishes
Rice and peas is the favourite, made with red peas or gungo peas. Others include mashed Irish potato, festival, bammy, fried or boiled dumplings, fried plantain, dasheen, green banana, sweet potato and breadfruit.
Starters
Crab backs, saltfish fritters, pepper shrimp and cocktail patties are well liked by tourists, and menus may also list codfish balls, breadfruit chips, coconut chips, jerk sausage wrapped in bacon and Scotch eggs. Pace yourself so you have room for dinner.
Soups
Saturday is traditionally soup day, and Jamaica probably has more soups than any other Caribbean country. Examples include fish chowder, fish tea, pepperpot, red peas, gungo peas, green peas, pumpkin, callaloo, cucumber and the renowned mannish water. Dumplings (spinners), yam, breadfruit and dasheen go into most of them. They are served very hot, in both senses.
Jerk and spicy food
Jerk was once reserved for pork, but now chicken, fish, shrimp, goat, lobster and even cow foot are jerked. It is common at beach days and after-parties. Visitors tend to ask for jerk before the national dish of ackee and saltfish.
Dressings and sauces
Home cooks make their own mayonnaise, salad dressings, avocado dip, tartar sauce, mustard sauce, white sauce, mango chutney and soy onion sauce, and the recipes need few ingredients.
Baking
Christmas brings cakes and puddings, and Easter brings spice buns. A Christmas dinner is not complete without Christmas cake. Other favourites include sweet potato pudding, banana bread, cornbread, bulla, carrot cake, banana cake and coffee cake.
Seasonings
The flavour comes from ingredients brought by ancestors, among them jerk seasoning, ginger, lime, sweet pepper, wet sugar, thyme and garlic. Packaged blends are sold for chicken, fish and general cooking.
Eating well on a budget
Local eateries and markets let visitors eat well for little. See tourist attractions for markets, and the guide to the capital for restaurants.