Authentic Jamaican food in Montego Bay
One of the aspects of travel I like the most is experiencing the food of the nation. Of course, it can be a little “hairy” at times, depending on where you are. If there is one ubiquitous taste found in Jamaica, it is the jerk flavoring applied to virtually all their food, chicken, pork or even fish.
One of the best places to experience this is at a restaurant in the suburbs of Montego Bay called Scotchies. Found on the A1 just near to Iron Shore. When a restaurant is frequented enthusiastically by the locals, you are usually onto a good thing. The offerings are fairly simple, chicken, pork or fish cooked over an open fire, flavored by their secret mix of jerk spices. Added to this blend is the island’s local Scotch bonnet pepper. This concoction is rubbed into the meat and allowed to marinate for 12 hours. The meat is cooked on large fire pits of hardwood coals and covered with corrugated sheeting (normally used on roofs) to trap the smoke and heat in. The result is very tasty. Beware, the pork, in particular, has a kick to it (which I loved).
The food is served to you in aluminum foil and you are provided with a pretty useless plastic fork, but that’s OK because you really just eat the food with your fingers. On the menu are a variety of sides, the best two of which are the festival bread (shaped like a large finger or a mini baguette) and the sweet potato. Wash it down with the local beer, Red Stripe.
A big part of eating at Scotchies is the ambiance and experience. Pretty rustic, but really nice. Mixing it up with the locals makes the experience worthwhile. You can also buy the food ‘to go’ from the window, shown in the photograph above, and take it with you to the closest beach.
Piers van der Merwe
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