Modern Jerk

I never heard of jerk until I was a teenager, when we went to Portland (on the north coast of Jamaica) for swimming, surfing, water-skiing and fun in the sun. Boston Bay, one of the beaches we haunted, had become the place for it and jerk was certainly moreish. Checking back with friends, some were aware of it from the 60s but it did not turn up on the menu or on the mainstream dinner table in Jamaica until 20 years later. The wide popularity of jerk is relatively new. After Boston Bay (still the most famous), jerk pits emerged in Montego Bay and in Kingston, but it was still regarded mainly as street food.