These Top 10 Jamaican Food are the most popular and delicious food in Jamaica that will have your mouth watering and going back for seconds, if you are visiting the country.
Therefore, you must try these Jamaican Food once you are visiting Jamaica.
Have you ever traveled to Jamaica before for a honeymoon, family vacation or just a weekend getaway?
If you haven’t, then I think it’s safe to say you are missing out on some delicious, yummy, tasty, spicy (if you want) food.
There is something about Jamaican food that will have you going for seconds, well that’s if you are a food lover.
I am willing to try different type of food all over the world, if I know what I am eating.
There are certain foods I am not eating, like insects dipped in chocolate, monkey or lizard.
As much as I love curry meat, even if you curry the lizard or monkey, nope I am not eating it.
Maybe, just maybe for survival and that’s if it will save my life.
That’s the only time I am eating it.
Thank you.
Authentic Jamaican Food
Jamaican Food is full of flavor, herbs and spices.
Since I have migrated here to the United States, sometimes I wish I could find Jamaican Food near me that delivers, instead of me struggling to find a good piece of Yellow Yam or some nice Ackee that came straight from the tree and not from a can.
However, there are some food you will never find here in America, only when you visit Jamaica.
Plus, if you do find some Jamaican food, it just doesn’t taste the same until you are back home in Jamaica eating it.
So I have put together my Top 10 Jamaican Food that you must give a try, once you are visiting the Island of Jamaica and trust me you will not regret it.
Top 10 Jamaican Food you must try when visiting Jamaica
Below are the Top 10 Jamaican Food and in no particular order.
Please enjoy.
Rice & Peas is #1 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
Jamaican Rice & Peas is cooked in coconut milk with some other spices and herbs and served with your choice of meat.
As a matter of fact, almost every person cooks this meal on a Sunday as a part of their dinner.
In conclusion, it’s just a tradition that even I cannot break from, now that I am living here in America.
Check out this Jamaican Rice & Peas Recipe.
Curried Chicken or Curried Goat is #2 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
I have never met a Jamaican who doesn’t love a curried meal.
There is something about this spice that will have you going for seconds especially if you like a light spicy meal.
Curried Chicken and Curried Goat are very popular in every Jamaican home.
Click here to check out this Jamaican Curry Chicken Recipe.
Oxtail with Beans is #3 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
Oxtail is from the tail of the ox, seasoned and cooked with butter beans.
Normally, it is cooked in a pressure cooker, which when is done, the meat is soft and just leaves the leaves the bone.
It is so mouthwatering and finger licking.
As a result, the gravy from this is so loved that at times when you are ordering at a local restaurant, you ask for extra Oxtail gravy.
Soups is #4 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
There is something different about a bowl of Jamaican soup.
I think it is the flavor, meat, provision food and how it full your belly.
Red Peas soup and Pumpkin soup are the two popular soup that can be found at a cook shop on the road side.
Another popular soup that is not too heavy, is the Manish Water.
It is a combination of roasted goat head, its testicles and other body parts of the goat that is not curried.
Manish Water is normally served at nine nights (wakes) and parties.
Check out this Jamaican Chicken Pumpkin Soup Recipe.
Jerk Pork & Jerk Chicken is #5 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
As a disclaimer, these two types of meal are very spicy, so if you aren’t a lover for hot and spicy, then do not attempt to eat this.
With that been said, Jerk Pork and Jerk Chicken can be identified from miles away because of the smoky flavor given from the grill or when it is smoked over pimento wood.
It is rubbed with a special combination Jamaican jerk spices and herbs, that gives a distinct taste that is mouthwatering.
Normally Jerk Pork & Jerk Chicken are served with festival or hard dough white bread.
Check out this Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (Dry Rub) Recipe.
Check out this Jamaican Jerk Marinade Recipe.
Ackee & Salt-fish is #6 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
Ackee and Salt-fish is Jamaica’s National dish.
Cooked ackee mixed with Saltfish (which is also called Cod fish), and sautéed with onion, scallion, thyme, bell pepper, scotch bonnet pepper and tomato.
Ackee and saltfish are normally breakfast meals, but as a proud Jamaican, we eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
There are no rules to what time of the day you eat it.
Ackee & Saltfish served best with festival; roasted breadfruit; boiled food (dumpling, green banana and yam); or even just plain white hard dough bread or white rice.
Check out this Jamaican Ackee & Saltfish Recipe.
Escovitch Fish with Festival or Bammy is #7 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
This is simple fried fish served with a special escovitch sauce, made of white vinegar with onions and scotch bonnet peppers.
Bammy is made from cassava, that looks like bread, soaked in coconut milk and fried.
Festival is a special kind of fried dumpling that is made with flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Check out this Jamaican Escovitch Pickle Sauce.
Check out this Jamaican Festival Recipe.
Rum Punch is #8 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
Rum Punch is an alcohol beverage for adults.
The legal drinking age in Jamaica is 18 years old.
However, Jamaican Rum Punch is a favorite amongst majority of Jamaicans, except if you aren’t a rum drinker like me.
But yes, I have tasted it before.
It’s a combination of fruit punch and Jamaican Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum or Appleton Rum.
Check out this Jamaican Rum Punch Recipe.
Jamaican Beef Patty is #9 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
This meal is a combination of ground beef with lots of herbs and spices, cooked in a flaky crust. It is similar to empanadas.
Other types of patty flavors to choose from are Chicken, Lobster, Cheese and if you are vegetarian, there is even one there for you to enjoy.
There are two well-known Patty shops in Jamaica, they are Tastee Patties and Juici Patties.
Check out this Jamaican Beef Patty Recipe.
Devon House Ice-cream is #10 of Top 10 Jamaican Food
This is a popular Ice-cream company in Jamaica.
They have every flavor that you can think of.
Some of the flavors are the regular ones, that as a visitor you can identify.
While other flavors are local fruits used to create yummy flavors.
My favorite flavor is Devon Stout.
It tastes like Baileys Rum Cream, a creamy stout texture with a kick of rum.
Another one of my favorites is the Rum and Raisin flavor.
I really do hope you give one of these Top 10 Jamaican Food a try the next time you are in Jamaica or if you find a true Authentic Jamaican Chef that can make them for you.
Please let me know what you think about these Top 10 Jamaican Food in the comment section below.
Thanks for visiting, and please come back soon.
Blessings and Love, as you carry on, on your YouNique Journey!