Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival This Sunday: The Ultimate Jerk Off!

Laine Doss

Jerk chicken cooking the traditional way..

​OK, we had to get that jerk-off pun out of the way. But seriously, if you like your meat hot and spicy, then you want to head over to Markham Park in Sunrise for the 10th annual Jamaican Jerk Festival, sponsored by Grace (which, by the way, makes a pretty good jarred jerk seasoning).

A jerk, by the way, is not the guy who got drunk at the office Christmas party and danced the Watusi in his boxers. Jerk refers to both the spice rub and the method of cooking meats and fish commonly found in the Caribbean, especially Jamaica.
The main ingredients in jerk are allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers. These adorable little peppers are so hot that you have to use gloves to cut them (they range about 100,000-350,000 units on the famous Scoville Chile Heat Scale). 

After rubbing the seasoning on the meats, they're traditionally slow cooked on wood over a pit fire. The result is a moist, flavorful, and spicy piece of meat.

Try a variety of jerk meats, seafood...even jerk ice cream at the festival.  There's also a jerk cook-off (why they're not calling it a jerk-off is beyond us) for both professional and amateur chefs.

We're going for the food and staying for the music. Sanchez, Byron Lee's Dragonaires, Ken Boothe, Pluto, Pablo & Mike, and the Spam All-Stars will perform.

The festival runs Sunday, November 13th from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Children 10 and under are free. A VIP experience is available for $110 in advance, which includes VIP entrance, VIP parking, open bar, and a variety of Caribbean foods.  Purchase tickets here.
 


Follow Clean Plate Charlie on Facebook and on Twitter: @CleanPlateBPB.