"jamaican" news and stories

Discovering the taste of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee was like finding an extraordinary gastronomic treasure. It's perhaps the most distinctive coffee I have ever tasted, because of its amazingly well-balanced flavor - sweet, smooth, and mild. As much as people love Starbuck's coffee, I can't cope with its bitterness. The best part about this Jamaican coffee is that it lacks bitterness.

From the lush misty Blue Mountains of Jamaica , this coffee is harvested at elevations between 3,000 and 5,500 feet. This species of coffee was introduced to the Caribbean as far back as the early 1700s by Mathieu Gabriel De Clieu. The species originates from southwest Saudi Arabia. The cultivation reached its peak in the early 1800s, and today it's one of the most sought-after and expensive coffees.

You can purchase Blue Mountain Coffee from several sites online including: Brainy Bean, Jablum, and Coffee Beanery. The average cost, not including shipping, is $36 for a 16 ounce bag.

Chocolate comes from pods, such as the one photographed above. When I arrived in Jamaica, my first stop was to see Dennis, a fruit and spice vendor in Ocho Rios. After he showed me raw unsweetened morsels of cocoa, he took out a large cocoa pod. A pod contains 20 to 45 seeds, also called "beans", fixed in white pulp.

Each of these seeds contains a large amount of fat (40–50% as cocoa butter) and the active ingredient theobromine, similar to caffeine. Theobromine is what makes chocolate lethal for dogs. There are two cocoa varieties in Jamaica: Forastero and Criollo. The harvest takes place in the fall, between September and November. The beans are taken from the pods and processed extensively.

Tasting an unprocessed cocoa bean makes you realize how much sugar is added after being processed. The cocoa beans we tasted had a strong bitter flavor similar to that of a coffee bean. This has to do with the presence of theobromine, which like caffeine gives you energy. We purchased some of the beans and ground them with coffee beans to make a tasty energy drink - mocha coffee. I am curious to know other ways one can use unprocessed cocoa beans in cooking. If you have you ever used them, what sorts of dishes were they for?

Serve this satisfying specialty straight out of Veganomicon with garlicky collared greens and a hearty starch like sweet potato fries.

Jerk Tofu
You will need:

1 lb. of extra firm tofu (press between two heavy plates for an hour)

Marinade: (blend all of the following together)

1/2 large chopped white onion
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
juice of 2 limes and lime zest
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (or one if you don't want it too spicy).

Slice the tofu into thin triangle shapes, and marinate for one hour.

Then, heat olive oil in a skillet and fry for 8 minutes on each side.

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