By Autumn Weeks
This exhibit focuses on Jamaican cuisine and how dishes are impacted for various reasons. I wanted to focus my exhibit on Jamaica because it is well known for its dishes spice, but also because of the influx of culture. Compared to other impacts on the food we eat such as cost, access, or knowledge of cooking, the melting pot of cultures in Jamaica plays the most important role in changing the way the dishes are made through their traditional influences.
In Jamaican Cuisine, spices play a very critical role in the overall taste of the dish and therefore they are substituted quite often. In Jamaican Food: History, Biology, Culture, the author B.W Higman gives a brief glimpse of how new and existing cultures have altered Jamaican dishes since the Arawak and Taino Indians, which are also the first inhabitants of Jamaica. The Arawak people’s diets consisted of mainly maize, cassava, and little fish while the Taino people’s diets consisted of vegetables but also protein coming from fish, iguanas, and coney. It gives insight into some internal factors that change Jamaican dishes like eating rituals and preparation methods due to the introduction of these new plants and animals being used in dishes.
Food in The Caribbean, origin, and history expands to outside factors and how they have played a role in changing Jamaican cuisine over time. In Jamaica, food is a central aspect of many traditions in the culture. It briefly discusses foods from around the world and the implementation of these foods such as chili peppers, tamarinds, rice, and corn. It is simple foods like these from other cuisines that have largely impacted Jamaican dishes, but like Higman, it notes that while using popular foods from these other international cuisines, “each island adds its own unique flavor and culinary techniques.” This in turn illustrates how deep the cultural traditions are in order for dishes to be different from one another within Jamaica.
Jamaican Food and Culture talks specifically about the different cultures and traditions that are in Jamaica. It started through the bringing of Indian and Chinese to be used as cheap laborers, however “this melding of cultures has created numerous hybrids of religions and culinary traditions that incorporate flavors and foods from all around the world.” This source talks about the eating practices and traditions for meals throughout the day…breakfast, lunch, etc. It also gives a brief insight into holidays in Jamaica and how dishes are accommodated for those holidays.
These sources are able map out a picture of how traditions have been passed down generation after generation, also gives explanation for why some cultures celebrate food differently. Additionally, it adds to the importance of native foods like the scotch bonnet being incorporated into dishes today and how the use of local foods along with generational traditions and beliefs come to shape Jamaican cuisine.
