No Work JERK

My first taste of Jerk was in Jamaica. I was 20 and the package'tastic hotel we were staying in seemed to serve jerk chicken every other evening. I hadn't experienced any spicy food at this time, so my first impression was 'to hot and to often'. Since then my favourite Caribbean dish was always 'Salt fish and ackee'. That was until a few years ago, when I was 'lucky' enough to get stranded in Barbados for eleven days by that pesky ash cloud. My accommodation was room only and eating out every night was proving expensive. I became a regular with the roadside food stalls. I learnt that a flying fish burger is a fantastic hangover cure and that a well marinaded bbq'd chunk of jerk lamb, devoured on a street bench watching the world go by was savoury heaven. The slightly sour, slightly sweet and spicy caramelised outside and pink juicy centre. I could rarely stop myself going back for more.

I wanted to recreate that taste at home and started to research recipes. Dry rub or wet marinade. Which should I go for? I went wet! I couldn't believe quite how simple this was to make. Did it compare with the street vendors version? It was lacking the warm Caribbean evening breeze and the dancehall music blasting from a nearby bar, but that aside I liked it a lot.

I went for chicken for my taste test meat but pork, steak and especially lamb are all great alternatives.

Firstly whizz:
 - 1 medium onion, quartered
 - 1 garlic clove, halved
 - 2 scotch bonnet chillies, quartered and deseeded                                                                               in a food processor just until they are roughly chopped. If you like it hot add another chilli. I do not recommend handling the chillies unless your used to it. You can use plastic gloves or my method of using plastic kitchen tongs to hold the chilli was highly successful.
Next add:
 - 80ml(1/3cup) soy sauce
 - 60ml(1/4cup) cider or red wine vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
 - 1 tbsp of light brown sugar
 - 1 tbsp vegetable oil
 - 1 tsp ground allspice
 - 1 tsp dried thyme
 - 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
 - 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
 - 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Process to a coarse paste. Cover the meat and marinade for 6 hours or overnight if possible. BBQ or grill, low and slow.

DON'T FORGET THE RED STRIPE!!!

PS Other beers are available. I know because I have just seen 'Banks' on offer in Tesco

PPS Other supermarkets are available