Authentic Jamaican Jerk Marinade
Jamaican season is to die for, as Chef Daniel Orr shows us with this delectable recipe. A Caribbean jerk rub such as this should be shared with everyone.
Chef Orr: “All the various wet jerk rubs, dry jerk rubs, and marinades have the same core ingredients: scallions, thyme, Jamaican pimento (allspice), ginger, Scotch bonnet Peppers, black pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Jamaican pimento is essential; It is more pungent than all spice berries found elsewhere. The scallions used in Jamaica more closely resemble baby red onions than the green ones we find in our American produce sections. The time is the English variety that grows in the hot sun of the Caribbean. Its leaves are small, pungently oily, and intensely flavored. You may need to increase the amount if using a tender, quick growing variety. These are the critical herbal flavors and jerk seasonings, so when tasting make sure they all sing. Used the country Peppers to your own taste. Jamaicans bring a whole new meaning to some like it hot.
Ingredients
1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves
2 bunches green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup ginger root, finely diced
3 Scotch bonnet Peppers, stemmed and finely chopped
1/4 cup peanut oil
five garlic cloves, chopped
3 freshly ground Bay leaves
Two teaspoon freshly ground allspice
one teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1TB freshly ground pepper
1T freshly ground coriander
one teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
juice of 1 lime
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend into a thick, chunky paste. The mixture will keep in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for several months. Many Jamaicans grind their spices by hand with a mortar and pestle. The whole spices tend to retain more aromatic oils in them and therefore more of a natural pungency period to save time, you can pulverize the spices in a spice grinder or coffee mill and then add them to the other ingredients.
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