Jerk seasoning is a special mix of spices that includes allspice (which Jamaicans call 'pimento'), scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, garlic, ginger, and more. Allspice berries grow on trees right in Jamaica, which makes the island the perfect place for this dish to have been invented.
The cooking method is just as important as the spices. Pimento wood from allspice trees is the traditional fuel for jerk pits — long, low grills where the chicken cooks very slowly over fragrant smoke for several hours. The smoke adds a flavour that is impossible to copy any other way.
You can find jerk stands all over Jamaica, from busy city streets to quiet roadside shacks in the countryside. The smell of jerk chicken cooking drifts for hundreds of metres in every direction, which is one of the most welcoming aromas you can imagine.
Jerk cooking has spread from Jamaica to the UK, USA, Canada, and beyond, wherever Jamaican communities have settled. It is a taste of Jamaica that has travelled the world, just like reggae music.