Origin According to historical evidence, jerked meat was first cooked by the indigenous
Taínos. In 1516, Spanish historian
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, documented how they prepared and preserved meats and fish on a
barbacoa, using native hot peppers (Scotch bonnet and
cayenne pepper) and pimento for seasoning. Sometimes, meats were wrapped in
papaya leaves to tenderize them before jerking. Historically, local game (wild meats) were jerked, such as
coney (hutia),
iguana,
wild hog (
peccary),
agouti, wild
birds,
waterfowl,
turtle etc., while a variety of seafood included
parrotfish,
grouper,
snapper,
shark,
lobster,
conch and others. They introduced
livestock (pig, cattle and chicken) to the island in the 1500s, which were often cured by adopting the Taíno method of jerking meats over a
barbacoa, using pimento wood and berries for flavour and preservation. During the
invasion of Jamaica in 1655, the
Spanish colonists freed the enslaved Africans who fled into the Jamaican countryside, becoming some of the first
Jamaican Maroons.
Barbacoa technique The method of cooking in
underground pits is speculated by some to have been used to avoid creating smoke which would have revealed their location. However, this technique is a form of
barbacoa which has been used by indigenous peoples across the
Americas for centuries, and is also found in other parts of the world—most notably in
Hawaii, where it appears as
kālua-style
imu cooking, central to the
luau. Historians further concluded that the Taínos developed the
cooking techniques and seasoning practices used throughout the region. The method of jerking meats on native pimento wood traces back to the Taíno term
“barabicu” or
barbacoa, meaning “framework of sticks”, applied to a range of wooden structures, including a raised wooden grill for roasting and smoking foods, This Taíno technique spread throughout the Americas, and many food historians agree that all forms of
barbecue evolved from this original cooking style.
The preservation of traditional jerk In the 17th century, all racial groups hunted wild hogs in the Jamaican interior and used the practice of jerking to cook them. However, by the end of the 18th century, most groups had switched to imported pork products, while the Maroons largely continued the practice of hunting wild hogs and jerking pork.
Jamaican jerk sauce believed to have been primarily developed by them, added flavour to wild hogs which were seasoned with herbs and
allspice before slow-cooking over pimento wood. Over time the basic recipe has been modified as various cultures added their influence. ,
jerk sauce,
festival,
fried pressed plantain and
coleslaw, in Jamaica ==The globalization of jerk cuisine==