| Hopefully everyone will have the opportunity to visit the | | | | varieties too. Common thyme, or garden thyme as |
| lovely island of Jamaica, and when you do, you will | | | | they call it, is the variety most used for seasoning and |
| undoubtedly notice the food. It is simply wonderful! | | | | it is very pungent. A little fresh thyme goes in just |
| Jamaican cooking has a unique flavor and quality to it | | | | about every Jamaican dish you will eat, whether it |
| that is produced by two main ingredients: time and | | | | needs it or not. |
| thyme. | | | | Thyme in Jamaica is usually grouped with garlic and |
| To start with, Jamaicans like to cook their food | | | | scallions; in fact when you shop in the local stores, you |
| thoroughly and lengthily. They heartily believe in letting | | | | can buy little cooking packets of the three ingredients, |
| meats marinate in spices for a whole day or longer. | | | | already bundled together for convenience. It's fairly |
| This produces food with many layers of flavor, so it's | | | | safe to assume that wherever you taste thyme, a |
| definitely worth waiting for. Once a meat is properly | | | | bouquet of garlic and scallion is trailing behind. |
| seasoned, it should then be cooked extremely slowly, | | | | The result is wonderfully seasoned food that seems to |
| over low heat, until it's completely done. Rare meat is | | | | have a better flavor than anything you've ever eaten, |
| almost unheard of in Jamaica, and the concept of | | | | and that's not just because you're on vacation and |
| sushi is even more foreign to them than to Americans. | | | | didn't cook it yourself! It's due to the skilled and joyful |
| Besides time, the herb thyme is the other main | | | | use of patience and thyme in the preparation of food, |
| component of the unique Jamaican taste. Thyme | | | | plus a whole lot of Jamaican love. |
| grows abundantly in Jamaica, and there are lots of | | | | |