Zan by the colorful fresh fruit shacks near the Boston Jerk Centre
It’s pretty much a given that any trip to Jamaica will involve some rum, reggae and jerk chicken. Jerk Cuisine, which involves a dry rub of allspice (known as pimento in Jamaica), scotch bonnet peppers, cloves, garlic, cinnamon, salt, and a few spices is the island’s riff on BBQ. The Boston Jerk Centre, located within easy walking distance to Boston Beach, is considered the birthplace of Jamaican Jerk style of cooking.
There was a whole system of expeditors and hype men outside Goldteeth Jerk Centre
The Boston Jerk Centre is a food court with hustle. The way this place works is several different vendors are attempting to sell you their jerk, and expediters are there to sort of coordinate the process. If you’ve ever eaten at the Satay Club in Singapore, it’s a a similarly confusing process.
Locals chilling at a bar in the Boston Jerk Centre
Fortunately, Nick (our driver from the Trident Villas) helped us get our Jerk on. Nick had suggested we try the jerked pork, which wouldn’t have been my pick but turned out to be the standout dish of the day. After a few minutes of negotiating, we had jerked chicken and pork– cooked on grills made from oil drums cut in half– and grilled sweet potatoes.
Pork and Potatoes on the grill at the Boston Jerk Centre
There were not a lot of tourists at the Boston Jerk Centre and I tried not wonder how long the meat had been sitting on those grills. I’m not usually a food stall kind of person, but Zan and I both wanted get the full on Jamaican Jerk experience.
Every culture seems to have a deep fried delicacy. In Jamaica, it’s Festival Bread
Festival bread being fried
We ate our lunch of Jerked pork & a Red Stripe back at GeeJam
We ate our jerk lunch– which cost under $10 per person- with a cold Red Stripe. Sure enough, the jerk pork was the standout and the grilled sweet potato a yummy starch. It’s a great thing to do in Port Antonio.
Shaggy’s Jerk Centre
The Boston Jerk Centre is located in Fairy Hill, just a few minutes from Boston Beach. It’s just off the main highway about 9 miles east of Port Antonio, Jamaica.