Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Jerk chicken is Jamaican street food, but jerk has evolved over the years to mean so much more to Jamaica’s heritage. In the tourist towns of Jamaica, practically every menu will have at least one jerk dish. Commercializing jerk in this way is a departure from its humble roots as it is not something most Jamaicans even cook at home. Jerk originated in the cool hills of Portland by the Maroons, Jamaica’s runaway slaves. Authentic jerk food has unique spicing, but also a unique cooking method. It is still debatable that jerk cannot be made at home in an oven and must be done over an open fire of coals and pimento wood for it to truly be considered jerk. 

Commercializing jerk meant giving everyday people, and especially Jamaicans in the diaspora, a chance to still enjoy the flavors of jerk at home. Companies like Walkerswood and Grace have bottled versions of pretty decent jerk marinades that are great substitutes when you want to re-create jerk outside of the traditional jerk found on the island. The evolution of jerk also meant an evolution of the flavors. In the beginning, jerk spicing was only used on wild hogs and included wild cinnamon and nutmeg in the ingredient list. In this recipe, I have skipped the cinnamon and nutmeg for a more spicy, savory and pungent jerk flavor. 

• It’s packed with flavor. You will love jerk because it is the one dish that brings together all of the savory spices that Jamaicans love. There are two types of onions, garlic, ginger, allspice, scotch bonnets, brown sugar, and fresh thyme in the marinade. 
• The chicken is super tender. The marination time is long, and the cook time is also long and slow. You end up with tender and flavorful meat that’s uniquely Jamaican. 

• Chicken: I call for whole chicken legs in this recipe. 
• Seasonings: Allspice berries, scallions, yellow onion, and browning contribute so much flavor. The most important of these is allspice. 
• Scotch bonnet peppers: Bring the heat. You can swap in other hot peppers if you like (see note below). 

Making jerk chicken is not as intimidating as it might seem. Here’s how to do it. 

1. Make the marinade. Blend scallions, yellow onion, garlic cloves, ginger, fresh thyme sprigs, scotch bonnet peppers, allspice berries, vegetable oil, all-purpose seasoning, brown sugar, gravy master or Grace browning, kosher salt, ground black pepper, onion powder, and smoked paprika until smooth. 
2. Marinate the chicken. Massage the marinade into whole chicken legs. Once you blend the marinade and season the chicken, the rest is simply waiting. It’s good to wait out the marination time overnight for the best flavor and a slow, long cook guarantees tender and flavorful chicken. 
3. Cook your chicken. I include two options: roasting and grilling. To roast, place the chicken skin-side up on the baking sheet (discard the remaining marinade) and roast. To grill, prepare your grill for indirect heat, then cook the chicken until charred all over. 

• If you can’t find Grace browning, you can use gravy master browning sauce. 
• Scotch bonnets can be subbed for habaneros or Jamaican hot peppers. 
• Whole allspice can also be swapped out for ground allspice. 

You can make jerk marinade ahead of time and store it. You will want to add a touch of distilled white vinegar to help preserve the ingredients for longer shelf life.

Jerk chicken is best with bread (Jamaican hard dough bread is preferable, but any heavy/dense read will work well), festival (fried sweet cornbread dough), or rice and peas.