More Food from Jamaica

Curry goat with rice and peas

Gizzada pastry with coconut, sugar, nutmeg and vanilla

Cuisine of the Tainos
Christopher Columbus visited Jamaica multiple times towards the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, once even shipwrecked off the north coast for two years (1503–1504). During these visits he described a way the Arawaks (the indigenous inhabitants of Jamaica) preserved meat by adding peppers, allspice and sea salt to make what is now known as Jamaican jerk spice.