Jamaican cuisine is renowned worldwide for its flavour-packed dishes, featuring a variety of spices and the creative use of meats often overlooked in other cultures. The island’s traditional foods have become so popular globally that they’re no longer confined to immigrant homes and select restaurants across the diaspora.
Yet, as with any country’s indigenous dishes, some of our most beloved foods may seem ‘weird’ to others. Despite being delicious, there can be hesitation in trying some of our more niche eats, with their unusual flavour combinations or use of offal.
If you’re feeling adventurous, here’s a list of the top 10 weirdest Jamaican cuisines :
Mannish Water
Despite its name, Mannish Water is a soup made from ram goat entrails, including the head, feet, and even the testicles, which are considered a natural aphrodisiac.
Also known as ram goat soup, it’s a rich dish with a distinctive gamey flavour. The soup typically includes green bananas (boiled in their skin), dumplings (‘spinners’), cho cho, and other vegetables.
Mannish Water is often served at a Jamaican wake, or ‘nine-night,’ a gathering held nine days after a loved one’s passing to celebrate their life before the funeral. The rammy goat is killed and cooked on site on the day of the wake to retain the freshness and renkness of the meat which adds to the flavour.
Ackee Fruit
Ackee scientifically known as Blighia sapida is the national fruit of Jamaica and is the main ingredient in ackee and saltfish, the national dish of Jamaica commonly served with boiled food or fried dumplings.
A tricky fruit, ackee can be poisonous if not prepared correctly and although it can be eaten raw, it must be picked only after its leathery pod has naturally opened to reveal its fruits and then cooked or fermented thoroughly to remove the toxins.
While some are put off by its egg-like texture and slightly starchy flavour, others adore its subtly almost sweet flavour. That underlying sweetness has led to some surprisingly delicious nontraditional ways to use the fruit, such as as the base for a wine.
Susumba
Known scientifically as Solanum torvum, susumba, or gully beans, are small, bitter berries that grow wild in Jamaica. Typically cooked with saltfish or mackerel to mask the bitterness, they can also be added to soups or rice.
Susumba should never be eaten raw, as it is toxic unless properly prepared. It’s said to help with high blood pressure, and the leaves are sometimes used as a remedy for colds and flu.
Traditional Treats: Blue Draws, Jackass Corn, Asham
Blue Draws, also called Duckunoo, is a cornmeal-based pudding flavoured with rum and raisins. Unlike most Jamaican puddings, it’s not baked but steamed in a banana leaf. This treat is still popular in rural Jamaica as a special occasion dessert.
Jackass Corn, also known donkey corn or donkey jaw bone, is a tough, crispy biscuit, known for its stubborn chewiness. Made with ingredients like cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and desiccated coconut, it’s a simple yet flavourful snack.
Asham, or Brown George, is a traditional children’s treat made from roasted and ground corn, sweetened to taste. The name Asham comes from the Akan word for “parched and ground corn.” It’s eaten dry or mixed with water to form a dough.
Animal Limbs & Organs
Kidney, liver, chicken giblets (liver, heart, gizzard, and neck), tripe, cow tongue, pigs feet, trotters, and other offals have been staples in Jamaican cuisine since the days of slavery. Once discarded portions of animal meat were a cheap but steady supply of food for slaves, with the added benefit of being a rich source of iron, protein, and fat in our diets.
A popular recipe using animal limbs is pig trotters and beans. While the pig’s feet may seem off-putting to some, when stewed down into a rich sauce with baked beans, they become a delicacy. These types of dishes frequently use beans to “stretch” the food, providing a nutritious meal for traditionally large and extended families.
This traditional cuisine is the true definition of tun yuh hand mek fashion and is a credit to our ancestors that they found ways to prepare these kinds of dishes using meagre ingredients to create delicious and nutritious meals.
Turn ‘Tun’ Cornmeal
Tun cornmeal, like the Italian Polenta dish, is the savory cousin to the creamy and delicious cornmeal porridge. The dish starts with coconut milk and refined cornmeal, just like a bowl of cornmeal porridge, but it transforms when you replace the condensed milk and vanilla with local herbs and spices, occasionally vegetables, saltfish, bacon, or even cheese.
After cooking the herbs, bacon, or saltfish separately, they are then added to a pot with coconut milk and cornmeal mixture. This mixture is stirred vigorously until the water evaporates and the cornmeal reaches a doughy consistency that is neither too dry nor too wet.
This dish can be served as a meal on its own or with your favorite protein, like chicken.
Stinking Toe
Hymenaea courbaril, commonly known as stinking toe, is the fruit of the West Indian locust tree, one of the largest trees in the Caribbean. People often eat the cream-coloured, powdery fleshed fruit, named for its strong smell and toe-like shape, straight from the shell or blended into punches.
Despite its unpleasant aroma, stinking toe is regarded as a powerful fruit with significant health benefits, which is encouraging. The mild vanilla-flavoured fruit is low in calories and high in carbohydrates. People often use it as an appetite enhancer and believe it to be an aphrodisiac. It is high in vitamin A and iron, and studies on the fruit flesh show that it has antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial properties.
Jackfruit Seed
Jackfruit, scientifically known as Artocarpus heterophyllus, is the world’s largest tree-growing fruit and can weigh up to 36 kg or 80 pounds. The fruit with origins in Asia was first introduced to Jamaica in 1782, when it is allegedly that a jackfruit plant was stolen from a French ship headed for Martinique and transported to Jamaica.
Hidden among the golden yellow finger-like inner tendrils of the fruit are sweet, starchy fibre-rich pods that are eaten raw as a snack, while the seeds are roasted and eaten or used in punches, stews, and soups, adding a nutritious and delicious twist.
