Celtnet Jamaican Recipes and Cookery, Home Page

Jamaica is an island nation in the Greater Antilles chain of the Caribbean. It is the third largest nation in the Caribbean and the capital (and largest city) is Kingston. Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy and the official language is English, though most Jamaicans primarily speak an English-African Creole language known as Jamaican Patois. Historically, Jamaica was originally settled by Arawak and Taino indigenous people (from South America) etween 4000 and 1000 BCE, and it is the Taino name for the island Xaymaca (meaning the 'Land of Wood and Water', or the 'Land of Springs') that yields the modern name of 'Jamaica'. Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494 and the island became the Spanish posession of Santiago. The Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English and in 1655 the English, led by William Penn and General Robert Venables, took over the last Spanish fort in Jamaica. The island then became the English posession of Jamaica (later becoming a British colony under the union of England and Scotland). When the English captured Jamaica in 1655 the Spanish colonists fled after freeing their slaves. These freed slaves fled into the mountains, joining those who had previously escaped from the Spanish to live with the Taínos. These runaway slaves, who became known as the Jamaican Maroons, fought the British during the 18th century and the name 'Maroon' is still used today for their modern descendants. During the long years of slavery Maroons established free communities in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, maintaining their freedom and independence for generations.

During the 18th century, Jamaica became one of the world's largest sugar-exporting nations, an industry that was heavily dependent on the slave trade. So much so, that black islanders came to outnumber whites by 20:1. Depsite the abolition of the slave trade, and the adoption of laws gimenting the abolition of slavery the measures were resisted by the Jamaican ouse of Assembly. The Assembly claimed that the slaves were content and objected to Parliament's interference in island affairs. However, following a series of rebellions and changing attitudes in Great Britain, the nation formally abolished slavery in 1834, with full emancipation from chattel slavery declared in 1838. After the abolition of slavery, Chinese and Indian migrants were transported to the island as indentured workers, bringing with them their cultures and cuisines. During the 1950s Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom and in 1958, it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among the British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federation in 1962.

Like the island's culture, Jamaica's cuisine is a rich blend of native Taino, Spanish, African, British, Chinese and Indian. There are many similarities with West African cuisines, particularly the use of heavily-spiced stews served with carbohydrate staples. But elements of Chinese and Indian cuisie are evident, particularly in street food and there is a strong British influence in the cakes and sweets.