It seems fitting that Jamaica's official motto, "Out of many, one people," serves equally well to describe the nation's melting-pot cuisine. This is one culture where you can truly taste the country's history in its food, from jerk chicken and curry goat to stew peas and rum cake.
Today, the island nation's population has been distilled into a single cuisine flavored with plenty of indigenous
Luckily, Jamaican ex-pats looking for tastes of home have plenty to keep them satiated in South Florida.
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Luckily, Jamaican ex-pats looking for tastes of
1. Kersmon Caribbean Cuisine
4622 Jog Road, Greenacres. Call 561-968-5656.
This long-standing bistro in Greenacres serves some of the best Jamaican food around, cooked up by chef-owner Althea Drummond. Here, the Negril native prepares everything that leaves her small kitchen herself, from harder-to-find traditional dishes like cow foot to — on occasion — a Rastafarian vegetable dish known as
2. Chelly's Jamaican Restaurant
9160 W. Commercial Blvd., Sunrise. Call 954-586-5077.
Chelly's in Sunrise serves Jamaican comfort food at its best. All the staples — from oxtail and escovitch snapper to jerk chicken, cow foot, and stew peas — are solid. The country's famous brown-stew chicken is an entry-level dish that's easy
3. Curly's Caribbean Flava
1892 Abbey Road, West Palm Beach. Call 561-434-7077.
The restaurant does a brisk takeout business, but
4. Jerk Machine
317 SW Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-440-4556, or visit jerkmachine.com.
Where can you find the best jerk in town? At Jerk Machine, of course, a humble eatery specializing in the Jamaican-style barbecue dish. Here, owners Desmond and Catherine Malcolm — both Jamaican natives who relocated to South Florida in the 1980s — have created a strong following for their jerk-focused fare. What began as a catering gig (their own wedding in 1982) has since grown to four locations from the Lauderhill original to Miami's Sun Life Stadium. Today, the restaurant is famous for its smoky, spicy jerk chicken — as well as jerk pork and oxtail. But you haven't lived until you try Jerk Machine's specialty: the jerk stew peas, a
5. Charlie's Pastries
4261 W. Commercial Blvd., Tamarac. Call 954-739-9109.
This unpretentious bakery is the perfect spot to find a full assortment of the Caribbean nation's plethora of sweet and savory treats, including beef patties, coco bread, and rum cake. Most Americans will be familiar with the iconic Jamaican beef patties; you can find a version of them at 7-Eleven, the neighborhood gas station food counter, or an ethnic market here and there. But in Jamaica, it's not uncommon to eat those same beef patties inside a folded hunk of coco bread, much like a sandwich. The coco bread and patties at Charlie's Pastries are made fresh each day, a soft, white, spongy bread sweetened with coconut milk that sells as fast as
6029 Kimberly Blvd., North Lauderdale. Call 954-979-1915, or visit dutchpotjamaican.com.
At the Dutch Pot Jamaican, it's all about the "pot." According to the restaurant's owners, it's a necessary part of Jamaican cuisine and culture and the only way to produce authentic Jamaican cooking. The pot heats up at an even temperature, meaning it's always consistent. And so is the food. Since 2000, this North Lauderdale restaurant has been feeding its fans some of the best Jamaican cooking in Broward County. What started as a single-burner oven in the backyard has morphed into four locations from Plantation to Lauderhill. Each location offers lunch specials for less than $10, served as a platter of spicy jerk chicken or pork alongside a pile of rice, peas, and plantains. If
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235 E. Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Call 954-530-8909, or visit alexsandrascafe.com.
8. Sweet's Sensational
25 SW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach. Call 561-865-7086.
In Delray Beach, not too far from downtown and the Atlantic Avenue strip, you'll find Sweet's Sensational. This low-key restaurant caters to the nearby neighborhood, offering affordable lunch prices for many of Jamaica's best dishes, as well as a list of daily changing specials. The chef-owner, a smiling Jamaican woman by the name of Ivet "Sweets" Henry, specializes in homemade patties. Baked daily, they're nothing like those greasy bright-yellow things gas stations try to pass off as real food. Available in mild or spicy, each fragrant beef patty is encased in a golden, flaky pocket. We suggest you grab a fresh-baked coco bread too: The soft dough can be split in half, just the right size to stuff a whole patty inside for an authentic Jamaican twist on this popular hand-held, on-the-go meal.