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A Jamaican Jamboree

Spicy, hot, and satisfying, Jerk Chicken’s even better with some homemade Mango Chutney and a refreshing Rum Caipari-ha. (Recipe and on-line extras from "A Pirate’s Paradise" (January 2003).

Spicy Jerk Chicken

3 tablespoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon freshly ground black and/or white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger, chopped
4 to 5 small chili or jalapeno peppers (more or less to taste), chopped
2 medium onions, quartered
6 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons water
Dash dark rum (optional)
3 pounds chicken parts
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 to 2 limes, sliced

Blend the spices, hot peppers, onions, garlic, soy sauce, water, and rum in a food processor or blender until smooth. (Alternatively, use a mortar and pestle, first chopping the ginger, onions, and garlic finely.) Pour the thick sauce over the chicken and marinate in resealable bags in the refrigerator overnight, or longer for added flavor. Brush marinated chicken with oil and grill or bake uncovered at 350 degrees F until cooked through (about 1 hour). Garnish with fresh lime slices. Serve with Red Stripe beer and feel the taste buds flare!

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Rum Caipari-ha

This cool, refreshing drink contains a bit of the magic that moves the second dimension into the third. Although the drink hails from Brazil, we were introduced to it in Jamaica by a smiling German couple who had sailed around the world two and a half times. In their guest book, we were the 30th entry after Eric and Susan Hiscock.

1 lime per glass
2 teaspoons sugar per glass
Crushed ice to fill each glass
White rum to fill each glass

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Squeeze the juice of an entire lime into each cocktail glass. Thoroughly stir in two teaspoons of sugar per glass. Fill glasses with chipped or crushed ice. Pour white rum to the brims. (This is where the rum gets reacquainted with its primal element – sugar.) Garnish the drink with the peel from the squeezed limes.

Mango Chutney
(adapted from The Complete Caribbean Cookbook by Pamela Lalbachan, Charles E. Tuttle Co. Inc., Rutland, VT)

This chutney is great with meats and fried foods like conch fritters.

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2 cloves garlic, peeled
Red peppers, to taste
6 hard (not soft) mangoes, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons garam masala OR
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, ground cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin
2 half-pint canning jars
2 tablespoons mustard oil* or olive oil

*available in Indian markets

Throw the garlic and peppers down the chute of a food processor (or mince finely and “process” with a mortar and pestle) until finely chopped and clinging to the sides of the processor bowl. Scrape down bowl and add mango slices. Briefly process into small chunks. Add all ingredients except the mustard oil. Simmer for five minutes. Heat oil. Pour the mix into clean canning jars and add enough oil to cover.

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