Post by kaya on Jul 12, 2007 10:01:46 GMT -5
Spicing up a vacation with a visit to Mother Thyme
Harry Shattuck, Houston Chronicle
Thursday, July 12, 2007
(07-12) 04:00 PDT Ocho Rios , Jamaica -- As our tour van proceeded through Jamaica's lush Fern Gully south of Ocho Rios, I noticed a sign beside the road: "Soul Tavern Highway."
About that time our guide informed us, "We have the highest number of bars and the highest number of churches in the Caribbean. One of those spirits knocks you out, and the other lifts you up."
Depending on your tolerance, spicy Jamaican jerk seasonings can produce either effect. Which leads me to the focus of my mission this particular day: a visit to an authentic jerk pit and an encounter with Mother Thyme.
After negotiating the Fern Gully -- home to more than 500 fern varieties, some rising 45 feet -- we arrived in Walkerswood, a tiny village tucked on a hillside. Blink your eyes and you risk missing one of the Caribbean's most insightful epicurean adventures.
Walkerswood Caribbean Foods, the first Jamaican company to export jerk seasonings, produces more than 20 spices, sauces and other products on its 7-acre property, and a one-hour Jerk Country Tour is designed to showcase the process "from the field to the table."
Actually, we started at the table on Walkerswood's open-air Pimento Porch, savoring a spiritual dose of rum punch while digesting a history lesson.
The term "jerk," we learned, has multiple connotations: It's believed to derive from the Spanish word charqui (meaning dried meat). But it's also used to describe uniquely Jamaican techniques in open pits where the cook -- dubbed jerk man or jerky -- pulls, or jerks, the meat on a grill above the fire.
This process is believed to have originated more than a millennium ago when the Arawak Indians, the island's first settlers, used spices to preserve meat. Beginning in the 17th century, slaves from Africa, freed by the Spanish and known as Maroons, advanced the tradition in the island's Blue Mountains by blending Jamaican pimento (allspice), hot peppers, salt and herbs, then rubbing the mixture on wild pigs they had killed. The meat would cure for as long as two days.
Today, jerk seasonings are applied to pork, beef, lamb, fish and chicken. In Walkerswood tours, participants mix fiery Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, thyme, green onions, nutmeg, cinnamon, white vinegar, brown sugar, black pepper and salt. Jerkies throughout the island have their favorite ingredients -- some adding garlic and ginger, others lime juice, still others native rum.
Once we'd perfected our creation, we ground it by mortar and pestle. "It helps to relieve stress," said a woman wearing a colorful costume and identifying herself as Mother Thyme.
I relieved stress by pouring a dollop or three of Las' Lick Jerk Sauce on bite-size samples of pork and chicken fresh from the grill, then joined Mother Thyme for an escorted walk through her spice garden, where she showed off herbs not only used for seasonings but also favored by some Jamaicans for medicinal purposes.
"This sorrel is wonderful for people with irregular heartbeats," she said. "The aloe vera can help you get rid of dandruff and heal sunburn. And boil these berries, drink the liquid, and you'll be cured of diabetes."
No, thanks, I said. Instead, I revisited my new best friend -- the jerky -- to partake in a scientific experiment aimed at determining whether I preferred chicken basted with Walkerswood's Spicy Jerk Marinade or Coconut Rundown Sauce.
That was a prelude to sampling spicy Calypso chutney, guava jelly and other temptations during a tour of the nearby factory, where products are bottled and prepared for shipment.
No tour is complete without a stop at the Nyam and Scram Cafe -- translation: eat and run -- where the specialty is jerk-seasoned Jamaican meat patties.
It's the perfect snack for a return trip on the Soul Tavern Highway to Ocho Rios.
And while you're there, be sure to visit the Reggae Xplosion Museum, near the entrance to the Island Village shopping and entertainment center. Operated by former Bob Marley manager Chris Blackwell, the two-story museum showcases reggae and other Jamaican musical traditions, including ska, rocksteady and dancehall. Highlights include one large area dedicated to Marley, the re-creation of a Jamaican recording studio with vintage recordings and videos featuring music and interviews.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you go
Getting there
Walkerswood, Jamaica, www.walkerswood.com, is about a 30-minute drive from Ocho Rios, a popular cruise port on the island's northern coast and best known as a gateway to Dunn's River Falls.
What to eat
See www.walkerswood.com for recipes from Drunk Jerk Chicken and Lobster & Shrimp in Coconut Rundown to Rub Mi Belly Duck. Virginia Burke, Walkerswood's managing director of marketing, has written two cookbooks: "Eat Caribbean: The Best of Caribbean Cookery" (Simon & Schuster, $25) and "Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen" (Simon & Schuster, $12).
What to do
Walkerswood: Guided tours are conducted several times daily, last about an hour and cost $15. As part of a four-hour shore excursion during a Royal Caribbean cruise, we paid $56 for the Walkerswood experience combined with a visit to Wassi Arts Pottery Works and the Reggae Xplosion Museum in Ocho Rios. Carnival and other cruise lines also offer excursions that include a visit to Walkerswood. Cooking classes can be arranged via e-mail: dennismcintosh@walkerswood.com.
Ocho Rios: The Reggae Xplosion Museum, near the entrance to the Island Village shopping and entertainment center. (876) 675-8902, www.islandjamaica.com. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. $7.
For more information
Jamaica Tourism Board, www.visitjamaica.com.
This article appeared on page E - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Harry Shattuck, Houston Chronicle
Thursday, July 12, 2007
(07-12) 04:00 PDT Ocho Rios , Jamaica -- As our tour van proceeded through Jamaica's lush Fern Gully south of Ocho Rios, I noticed a sign beside the road: "Soul Tavern Highway."
About that time our guide informed us, "We have the highest number of bars and the highest number of churches in the Caribbean. One of those spirits knocks you out, and the other lifts you up."
Depending on your tolerance, spicy Jamaican jerk seasonings can produce either effect. Which leads me to the focus of my mission this particular day: a visit to an authentic jerk pit and an encounter with Mother Thyme.
After negotiating the Fern Gully -- home to more than 500 fern varieties, some rising 45 feet -- we arrived in Walkerswood, a tiny village tucked on a hillside. Blink your eyes and you risk missing one of the Caribbean's most insightful epicurean adventures.
Walkerswood Caribbean Foods, the first Jamaican company to export jerk seasonings, produces more than 20 spices, sauces and other products on its 7-acre property, and a one-hour Jerk Country Tour is designed to showcase the process "from the field to the table."
Actually, we started at the table on Walkerswood's open-air Pimento Porch, savoring a spiritual dose of rum punch while digesting a history lesson.
The term "jerk," we learned, has multiple connotations: It's believed to derive from the Spanish word charqui (meaning dried meat). But it's also used to describe uniquely Jamaican techniques in open pits where the cook -- dubbed jerk man or jerky -- pulls, or jerks, the meat on a grill above the fire.
This process is believed to have originated more than a millennium ago when the Arawak Indians, the island's first settlers, used spices to preserve meat. Beginning in the 17th century, slaves from Africa, freed by the Spanish and known as Maroons, advanced the tradition in the island's Blue Mountains by blending Jamaican pimento (allspice), hot peppers, salt and herbs, then rubbing the mixture on wild pigs they had killed. The meat would cure for as long as two days.
Today, jerk seasonings are applied to pork, beef, lamb, fish and chicken. In Walkerswood tours, participants mix fiery Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, thyme, green onions, nutmeg, cinnamon, white vinegar, brown sugar, black pepper and salt. Jerkies throughout the island have their favorite ingredients -- some adding garlic and ginger, others lime juice, still others native rum.
Once we'd perfected our creation, we ground it by mortar and pestle. "It helps to relieve stress," said a woman wearing a colorful costume and identifying herself as Mother Thyme.
I relieved stress by pouring a dollop or three of Las' Lick Jerk Sauce on bite-size samples of pork and chicken fresh from the grill, then joined Mother Thyme for an escorted walk through her spice garden, where she showed off herbs not only used for seasonings but also favored by some Jamaicans for medicinal purposes.
"This sorrel is wonderful for people with irregular heartbeats," she said. "The aloe vera can help you get rid of dandruff and heal sunburn. And boil these berries, drink the liquid, and you'll be cured of diabetes."
No, thanks, I said. Instead, I revisited my new best friend -- the jerky -- to partake in a scientific experiment aimed at determining whether I preferred chicken basted with Walkerswood's Spicy Jerk Marinade or Coconut Rundown Sauce.
That was a prelude to sampling spicy Calypso chutney, guava jelly and other temptations during a tour of the nearby factory, where products are bottled and prepared for shipment.
No tour is complete without a stop at the Nyam and Scram Cafe -- translation: eat and run -- where the specialty is jerk-seasoned Jamaican meat patties.
It's the perfect snack for a return trip on the Soul Tavern Highway to Ocho Rios.
And while you're there, be sure to visit the Reggae Xplosion Museum, near the entrance to the Island Village shopping and entertainment center. Operated by former Bob Marley manager Chris Blackwell, the two-story museum showcases reggae and other Jamaican musical traditions, including ska, rocksteady and dancehall. Highlights include one large area dedicated to Marley, the re-creation of a Jamaican recording studio with vintage recordings and videos featuring music and interviews.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you go
Getting there
Walkerswood, Jamaica, www.walkerswood.com, is about a 30-minute drive from Ocho Rios, a popular cruise port on the island's northern coast and best known as a gateway to Dunn's River Falls.
What to eat
See www.walkerswood.com for recipes from Drunk Jerk Chicken and Lobster & Shrimp in Coconut Rundown to Rub Mi Belly Duck. Virginia Burke, Walkerswood's managing director of marketing, has written two cookbooks: "Eat Caribbean: The Best of Caribbean Cookery" (Simon & Schuster, $25) and "Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen" (Simon & Schuster, $12).
What to do
Walkerswood: Guided tours are conducted several times daily, last about an hour and cost $15. As part of a four-hour shore excursion during a Royal Caribbean cruise, we paid $56 for the Walkerswood experience combined with a visit to Wassi Arts Pottery Works and the Reggae Xplosion Museum in Ocho Rios. Carnival and other cruise lines also offer excursions that include a visit to Walkerswood. Cooking classes can be arranged via e-mail: dennismcintosh@walkerswood.com.
Ocho Rios: The Reggae Xplosion Museum, near the entrance to the Island Village shopping and entertainment center. (876) 675-8902, www.islandjamaica.com. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. $7.
For more information
Jamaica Tourism Board, www.visitjamaica.com.
This article appeared on page E - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle