Gracefoods, Home of Caribbean Cuisine

When Christopher Columbus and his Spanish Armada landed on Jamaican shores, they were greeted by wide-eyed Arawak Indians who inhabited the lush island. The Arawaks hunted wild boar, and to keep the meat from spoiling quickly in the tropical heat, cured it with salt and spices. The Spanish referred to their technique as charqui, later mistranslated by the English as jirk.

When the English invaded the island in 1654, the Spaniards fled and freed their African slaves, encouraging them to fight against the new colonists. These slaves became known as the Maroons. They established small communities in the higher elevations of the Blue and John Crow Mountains, and reigned terror on the British soldiers who were unfamiliar with the dense forests.

The Maroons perfected the jerk technique, incorporating their West African cooking traditions. They prepared wild boar meat by stuffing it with a mixture of herbs and peppers, wrapping it in banana leaves, and slow cooking it over a pit layered with hot stones and smoldering green wood from pimento trees. After many hours, the tender meat was ready, robust with aroma and flavour.