Grills, Barbecues and Jerk Pans

Appears in
Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen
Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen

By Virginia Burke

Published 2001

  • About
As the weather in the islands is so conducive to outdoor cooking, we don’t consider barbecuing a seasonal event. The buccaneers who roamed about the Caribbean in the eighteenth century have been credited with inventing barbecues, but we like to believe they perfected the technique, learning from the indigenous Tainos Indians.

There are many ways to get the enticing flavours of flame-cooked meat, including barbecuing a whole pig on a spit. Jerking is traditionally done over a covered fire pit. On the streetside, for more convenience, a jerk pan is used to grill or barbecue pork, chicken or fish. The jerk pan is simply a metal drum or barrel, cut in half, with a wire rack.