Store Jerk Chicken A Minus

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Look what I found at the store today. Jerk chicken. Bad move, bad experiment. 

The grocery store failed dismally in recreating the jerk chicken, served by a famous Caribbean restaurant in Toronto. Basketball players, born and raised in the U.S. that are in and out Toronto, playing Raptors, can testify to that. The restaurant usually serves jerk chicken with rice and beans, a meal fit for bus drivers, day care workers and other folks that do real work for the nation.

I bought this chicken reluctantly. What if I’m disappointed? You bet I was. The store drowned it in the seasoning. In Jamaica, they brush the meat or vegetables with jerk seasoning and grill it, on a BBQ stand. I covered this one with foil and put it in the oven. The seasoning was so much, it tasted bitter when I took it out. 


Why is it called ‘jerk’ chicken? It’s the seasoning. It has hot peppers, black pepper, thyme, cane sugar, allspice and other spices that make it hot. Maybe it’s so hot, it makes you ‘jerk’ your shoulders. I understand jerk seasoning has its roots in Jamaica, but I’ve never asked anybody from that country why it’s called jerk seasoning. It’s because a friend who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, introduced me to it. She is a big fan of the restaurant we mentioned above. She also makes a mean jerk chicken.

I bought this pack to prove a point, that some things should be left to specialists in Jamaica, Toronto, Brooklyn N.Y., Brixton U.K. and other places, where Jamaicans settled many moons ago. Standards are bound to nose-dive, every time food is commercialized. The store thought it was marinating the chicken, but ended up throttling it. By the way, jerk seasoning is not only for chicken. It’s for lamb and vegetables as well. It’s a one size-fits-all for me, because it has various spices. Regular visitors have seen previous blogs where I use jerk seasoning in recipes. I use a little bit, to spice things up, not drown the food.

I’ll never buy this pre-arranged chicken again. I’ll continue using the jerk seasoning I have in the fridge.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Blogger Without Borders

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