Oxtail, Curry Goat and Jerk Chicken: A Guide to Classic Jamaican Dishes

If you have never eaten Jamaican food before, a Caribbean menu can be confusing. Ackee. Callaloo. Escoveitch. Provisions.

Here is what each of the classics actually is, what it tastes like, and how hot to expect it.

Oxtail

What it is: Beef tail, slow cooked for hours with butter beans until the meat falls off the bone.

Tastes like: Deep, rich and a bit sticky, closer to a beef stew than anything else. Not spicy on its own.

Served with: Rice and peas and steamed vegetables.

Order it if: You like slow-cooked beef. This is the dish people judge a Caribbean kitchen by.

Curry goat

What it is: Goat cooked down in Caribbean curry powder, which is different from Indian curry. More allspice, more thyme, less sweetness.

Tastes like: Rich and warming. Goat has more flavour than lamb and holds up to the spice.

Order it if: You want something bold. This is the dish that separates a serious kitchen from an average one.

Jerk chicken

What it is: Chicken marinated in jerk seasoning, which is scotch bonnet, allspice, thyme, scallion and more.

Tastes like: Smoky and aromatic before it is hot. Jerk is a seasoning, not a sauce, and the good version tastes of the spices, not just the heat.

Served with: Rice and peas and coleslaw.

Order it if: It is your first time. Start here.

Ackee and saltfish

What it is: Jamaica's national dish. Ackee is a fruit that cooks up looking and tasting a little like scrambled egg, sautéed with salted cod, onion and pepper.

Tastes like: Savoury and soft, salty from the fish, mild overall.

Served with: Provisions and steamed callaloo.

Order it if: You want to eat what Jamaicans actually eat at home.

Escoveitch fish

What it is: Fish fried, then topped with onions, carrots and scotch bonnet pickled in vinegar.

Tastes like: Sharp and tangy with heat at the end. The most different thing on the menu.

Order it if: You like fish and you like vinegar.

Curry chicken

What it is: The gentler cousin of curry goat. Same spice base, milder meat.

Order it if: Curry goat sounds like a lot for a first try.

The sides worth knowing

Rice and peas. Rice cooked in coconut milk with kidney beans, thyme and scotch bonnet. Not plain rice with beans stirred in.

Callaloo. A leafy green, steamed. Similar to spinach but firmer.

Provisions. Ground vegetables like yam, green banana and dumpling. Filling and mild.

Coleslaw. Cools everything else down.

About the heat

Most of these are not hot by default. Scotch bonnet is used for flavour as much as fire.

Every Blessed Foods plan lets you choose No Spice, Regular, Medium, Very Spicy or Spice on the Side, so you set your own level.

Where to start

If it is your first order, pick jerk chicken, curry chicken and oxtail. Those three cover the range without throwing you in the deep end.

Try the 3 meal trial plan, or go straight to the 5 meal plan if you already know what you like.

Everything is cooked fresh by Chef Leonora and delivered across the GTA Sunday and Wednesday, 1pm to 7pm.