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

Jerk Ham

I cooked this at Christmas for an alternative festive ham with a slightly less conventional twist to my Hairy Bikers Honey and Marmalade Glazed Ham, mainly for my brother as he is a huge jerk fan and it was fantastic. Alongside the traditional Christmas Dinner mark two which we usually enjoy on Boxing Day, I served the Jerk Ham for my brother with a quickly knocked up Macaroni Cheese and carrot, apple and red onion slaw and it went down a storm.

This is a slightly sweeter version from my Jerk Chicken recipe, and I actually threw together the marinade in my Nutribullet too which blitzed everything up in a matter of seconds. I must advise to marinade at least overnight and if possible for a full 24 hours before cooking - the result will be so much more intensely satisfying.


This is a great alternative joint of meat for a Sunday – I’ll be making it with rice & pea very soon.

Jerk Ham

Here's how:

• 1 piece of smoked ham around 1.4kg
• 6 Scotch bonnets
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 red onions
• 2 tbsp dried thyme
• 100g brown sugar
• Handful of cloves
• 50g fresh ginger roughly chopped
• 1 tsp Allspice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp All Purpose Seasoning
• 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 3 limes
• 3 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Firstly you need to make the marinade. If you have a Nutribullet or equivalent, then simply add all of the ingredients into the large cup, removing the skin and ends of the onions, garlic and ginger and taking off the stalk of the Scotch bonnets. If you wish for a milder taste you can remove the seeds but this isn't essential and I personally don't. If you have a more traditional blender that might need the ingredients chopped a little first then do so before placing into the blender. Blitz until the marinade is a thick, brown, sludgey looking liquid - this is your jerk marinade. There's enough here for two portions, so place half into a Tupperware container or a freezer bag and pop into the freezer for another time.

Now remove any packaging from the ham, including the outer skin and place into a dish that you can place in the oven but that you have a space for in the fridge too. Now smother the jerk sauce all over the ham, using your hands - you can use gloves - to make sure every part of the ham is covered. If there are any little slits or holes make sure the sauce gets pushed into these cavities as it will help the flavour to permeate the meat.

Now cover with tin foil tightly and place into the fridge until you need it - preferably at least 24 hours from now.

Now take out the ham and allow the meat to come back to room temperature for 30 minutes or so, in the meantime place the oven onto 170 degrees.

Keep the foil covering the meat loosely and cook for 1.5-2 hours. Remove from the oven and take the foil away.

Return to the oven for a further thirty minutes in which time the marinade which will still be a little wet will crisp up and char, making a really delicious gnarly coating.

Put back into the oven for thirty minutes and turn the oven down to 150 to prevent the meat from charring too quickly. (Of course read cooking time instructions on any packaging too and adjust accordingly).

One the ham is cooked, remove from the pan and place onto a plate to rest for at least 1 hour before carving. The meat will keep for a week once cooked and is incredibly versatile. Enjoy!

TIP: If you'd like to serve it with a refreshing slaw like I mentioned above, coarsely grate 1-2 carrots, 1 large red onion and 2 apples into a bowl. Add a teaspoon of white wine vinegar, the juice of a lime, a pinch of salt and black pepper and 2 tbsp mayonnaise.

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.