A little reason to celebrate
National Jamaican Jerk Day
Food ยท October 24
A day for Jamaican jerk, the smoky, spicy style of seasoning and slow grilling meat with allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers.
National Jamaican Jerk Day falls on Sunday, October 24, 2027. That is 362 days away.
Jerk is a Jamaican way of seasoning and cooking meat. The meat, most often chicken or pork, is rubbed or marinated with a paste built on allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers, then cooked slowly over a smoky fire.
The flavor arrives in layers. First comes the warm, almost clove-like note of allspice, which Jamaicans call pimento. Then thyme, scallion, garlic and a little sweetness show up. The heat from the Scotch bonnets comes last and tends to stay a while. Traditional cooks use pimento wood, which adds its own fragrant smoke, and the outside of the meat ends up dark and charred while the inside stays juicy.
In Jamaica, jerk is closely tied to roadside stands, where it is often cooked over grills made from old oil drums. A typical plate might come with hard dough bread, festival (a slightly sweet fried dumpling) or rice and peas, which is rice cooked with kidney beans and coconut milk.
At home, most people start with a marinade and a grill, and an oven works too. Letting the meat sit in the seasoning for several hours, or overnight, gives the flavor time to sink in. Jerk also suits shrimp, fish, tofu and vegetables like cauliflower.
Scotch bonnets are very hot, so many cooks wear gloves while chopping them and keep their hands away from their eyes until they have washed up.
Ways to celebrate
- Marinate chicken overnight in a homemade jerk paste and grill it.
- Look for a local Jamaican restaurant and order a jerk plate.
- Try jerk seasoning on cauliflower, tofu or shrimp.
- Make rice and peas with coconut milk as a side.
- Share your favorite jerk recipe with a friend.
Dates
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Saturday, October 24 |
| 2027 | Sunday, October 24 |
| 2028 | Tuesday, October 24 |
| 2029 | Wednesday, October 24 |
| 2030 | Thursday, October 24 |
All national days on October 24
Also on October 24
Categories: Food days