Jerk Salmon

When I make a batch of Jerk sauce I split it, usually into three batches - it freezes well and you can either cover some meat or fish in the sauce then freeze, or simply freeze the sauce in a freezer bag.

I first happened upon fish 'jerked' in Jamaica a few years back and ever since I have been experimenting and my favourite fish with the jerk treatment absolutely has to be salmon. It's the sweetness of the salmon which completely offsets the aromatic, powerfully punchy hot jerk and makes for a marvellous mouthful.

Sometimes I serve it with the traditional 'rice and pea' combination, but here during my healthy eating and fat fighting regime, I had it with 50g fried cauliflower rice (pepper up with garlic, chilli and spring onions), fresh corn and a selection of green vegetables. It is utterly delicious and completely addictive!

These days I make my jerk sauce in my Nutribullet as it's much easier to clean than my traditional Kenwood blender. 

Jerk Salmon

Here's how: 

• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 50g grated ginger
• 6 Scotch bonnets (including seeds) 
• 2 tbsp dried Thyme
• 1 tbsp Dunne's River All Purpose Seasoning
• 1 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• Juice of 2 limes
• 4 tbsp Soy sauce
• 100g Brown sugar
• 4 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper

Peel and chop the onion roughly and add to Nutribullet or blender. Peel the garlic and add to the onions.

Use plastic gloves if you have them to roughly chop the Scotch Bonnets then add to the blender. Now discard the gloves and wash your hands thoroughly - you really don't want that spice in your eye later!

Add all the other marinade ingredients, place the lid on and blitz to a smooth paste.

Now pour over the salmon, ensuring every part is covered so the sauce really permeates the flesh of the fish. I usually use a throwaway dish for jerk as it can be quite messy, so I tend to marinade in here also. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. If you haven't got that long, then leave the salmon for at least a couple of hours.

Jerk Salmon

When ready to cook the salmon, Remove from the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature whilst heating up the oven to 200 degrees. You want it nice and hot - salmon cooks quickly but you want some nice charred bits on the outside and you won't get that if the oven's not piping hot.

Place into the oven and cook for fifteen minutes. Serve with your choice of accompaniments. Enjoy!

A couple of other ‘jerked’ recipes:

1. Jerk Chicken
2. Jerk Ham

Jamaican BBQ

National BBQ Week

National BBQ week kicked off today and just over a week ago I enjoyed one of the most idyllic BBQ's on holiday in beautful Montego Bay. Most people can appreciate the joy of fine dining but sometimes the simpler things in life make for the best memories, and in this case it was certainly true.

A few days into my fortnight holiday with my parents and two brothers at the glorious Iberostar Rose Hall Beach , the 5 of us were already fully enjoying the fantastic food on offer at the four various restaurants. Breakfast, lunch and dinner filled us with what seemed like endless options of deicious food, some recognisable and some very much Jamaican and alien dishes to us - we really did feel spoilt for choice.

When the 'Jerk BBQ' was announced we were a little excited to see how Jamaican's enjoyed their al fresco dining compared to our typically Brit burgers and bangers fare.

We were invited to start the meal at 1230, but this was being cooked early on from around 11 on the gorgeous hotel beach, with a band of steel drums and singer setting the party tone up nicely. We listened to an array of Bob Marley classics, the smell of jerk filled the air and we tapped our feet and licked our lips expectantly.

The atmosphere on the beach was just fantastic, aside from the food and the music, everyone present was on their holidays, the sun was shining and the beach couldn't have been a more inviting setting for lunch. Whilst in the restaurants everyone stayed within their couple, family or group, here everyone was happy to sit together mixing with various strangers and just genuinely enjoying each others company.

We were promised "jerk everything" and the chefs really didn't disappoint. I chose some jerk pork, jerk chicken and jerk grouper, over which I spooned the accompanying, sticky jerk sauce which really intensified the heat and the flavours allowing the scotch bonnets to make their presence known. All was absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious.

I also had some curried goat with the obligatory rice and peas, a little salad and some coco bread, which was a new experience. I was delighted to find this Jamaican curry had a depth of flavour and a good fire to it, but the coconut cream based sauce really balanced this out to make for a very tasty curry. The meat was cooked well, was tender, flavourful and fell apart in your mouth - superb.

The rice and peas was nice and had an almost nutty taste to it, however it was very different to how I've experienced it in the UK in that it was of a much drier consistency, was great to try the authentic dish though.

Of course the salad was perfect to cool down the mouth and cleanse the palate a little with all that spice and the deliciously sweet, almost cake-like coco bread went down a treat too.
The meal was washed down with pink lemonade, rum punch and an ice cold Red Stripe beer. There was tons of other food to choose from including various salads, potatoes, coleslaws, plantain, vegetables and patties, but I wanted to save a little room as I'd already eyed the colourful and tempting array of cakes and pastries.

I went for a small orange cake and a pink and white concoction, The first was one of the lightest little orange flavoured sponges I've ever had the pleasure of trying with a segment ofjuicy orange on top - heaven. The final treat was a traditional coconut ice, tasty, very, very sweet and in all the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

Happy BBQ season people - may you all be adventurous in what you BBQ.