Jamaica in January

BY NOEL CUNNINGHAM

If you are feeling homesick for Jamaica or longing for a trip to the tropics, Jamaica in January would have made you jealous.

Jamaica in January, held on January 31^st, was a brilliant idea to provide people in southern Ontario and elsewhere with a taste of the island, especially at a time when flights to the Caribbean have been temporarily banned due to the pandemic. The event was the brainchild of JamaicanEats magazine, which has been serving up a taste of Jamaica and the Caribbean for over fourteen years.

The two-part event started off with Jamaica in a Box (food boxes brimming with flavours of Jamaican). The boxes offered to patrons included jerk chicken, curried goat and curry chicken from Donna Garner, Taste of Jamaica fi Real; and from yours truly stew peas done three ways…vegetarian, with pig’s tail, and with salt beef.

And if that weren’t enough, the food boxes also included a slice of Jamaican rum cake cheesecake or mango coconut pound cake, courtesy of Amanda Hamer of Edible Bliss11; sorrel and ginger beer from Rosalind Daniel, MontRose; coconut drops from Tropix; and a set of Jamaica in January postcards designed for the occasion.

Purchasers of the boxes and others who had signed up via Eventbrite for the Virtual Event (part two of Jamaica in January) tuned in at 5 p.m. for a 56-minute show streamed live on Zoom. Hosted by the entertaining Miss Tania Lou (Tania Lou Hernandez), the show kicked off with Jamaica’s welcome song. ‘Dis long time gal mi neva see yuh come mek mi hol’ yuh hand’.

The Virtual Event saw greetings from Grace Cameron, publisher and editor of JamaicanEats magazine, who gave a big shout out to readers around the world and explained why she wanted to have this event. In addition to beachside hellos from Annette Salmon of Made in Manchester, and Kitchen Warrior chef Uonie Lyn, the show had chef Simone Walker-Barrett (standing by a flowing river) telling viewers about her Street Food Saturdays event.

Plus, the hot button topic of the day, ‘does sugar belong in rice and peas?’ had chef Sian Rose, located in Pennsylvania, and others weighing in on this ‘scandalous’ idea.

For the cooking demonstration section of the show, I made my ackee and saltfish plantain cups. I also did a rum and beer food pairing session, explaining how to get the best flavours of Jamaican food along wit rum and beer.

If you are longing for home or need a trip down memory lane, you can watch the show on the JamaicanEats Youtube Channel. You’ll enjoy it from start to finish. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/8krIci6hwmc