When Jamaica Is Out of Reach

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/dining/with-jamaica-out-of-reach-making-jerk-chicken-at-home.html

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I was excited to be invited recently to a birthday party in Jamaica. That is, until I realized my work schedule wouldn’t permit me to go under any circumstance.

To console myself, I made a batch of jerk chicken on a cool drizzly day in New York, put on some reggae music, turned up the volume and called a few friends. Since the early spring weather wasn’t quite right for grilling, the jerk went into the oven instead, filling the house with intoxicating aromas.

Jerk, for the uninitiated, is the spicy grilled meat specialty for which Jamaica is famous, though it is made all around the Caribbean. Originally created by former African slaves, it has developed over four centuries, with influences from Arabic and even Asian cuisines finding their way into the dish. The pungent marinade includes lots of allspice (called pimento in the islands), black pepper and clove, but gets an even bigger kick from ultra-spicy yellow Scotch bonnet peppers, similar in shape and intensity to habanero chiles.

In Jamaica, jerk is everywhere, and the meat, which can be chicken, pork, goat, lion fish, wild boar, even lobster, is slow-cooked on branches of green pimento wood laid directly over hot coals. This adds an extraordinary flavor and complements the sweet spices.

Traditional accompaniments are savory rice with crowder peas or red beans, plantains, sweet potatoes or yams, and a fried corn bread called festival. I had the idea to make my rice with coconut milk and fresh spring peas, which may not please purists.

Purists will also no doubt say that you can’t call it jerk unless it is cooked over live fire and enhanced by its smoke, which can be achieved in a hinged oil drum barbecue (or a Weber if you must).

With the weather warming up, there’s no reason not to cook it the right way, unless, like me, you are rained out and dreaming of a sunny Jamaican day. In that case, an oven will have to do.