GA I L
SIMMONS
122 SEPTEMBER 2019
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The Joys of Jerk
Gail’s Jerk-Grilled
Lobster (recipe p. 120)
THE FIRST TIME I VISITED Jamaica was in 2012.
Close friends who had been going there on
vacation for years invited my husband and me to
the cliffs of Negril, in the westernmost corner of
the island. Among the many features of the area
they extolled was a local jerk shack just down
the road from the small hotel where we were staying. But, they
cautioned us, don’t go too hungry, and be prepared to wait.
After all, great jerk cannot be hurried, nor can island time.
I was familiar with jerk seasoning from my childhood, when
walks home from my public school in Toronto would take me
through a Caribbean neighborhood where I devoured beef
patties and jerk chicken thighs as an after-school snack. But
that was the extent of my knowledge of Jamaica’s distinctive
cuisine. The chance to get to know it better while sitting on the
beach, eating chicken and seafood laced with Scotch bonnet
peppers, allspice, and garlic, and washing it all down with an
ice-cold Red Stripe was one I could not pass up.
That first jerk shack did not disappoint, nor have any of the
others we’ve frequented on our many subsequent visits. In the
years since our first foray we have mastered our timing to arrive
midafternoon, still full from a late lunch and happy to linger
for a few hours sipping cold drinks while our dinner is prepared.
After trying every item that can be basted or drizzled in the
flavors of jerk, from shrimp to chicken to whole fish and even
cocktails, hands down my favorite incarnation is lobster, where
the jerk paste is stirred into butter and used to baste the crus-
tacean while it cooks over the flames. My streamlined version
(see p. 120) is one that you can make all year round, but grilling
the lobsters outside, beer in hand, is always encouraged.
FO
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photography by CHRISTOPHER TESTANI
