It was a product of the Colombian exchange, and the cross-cultural encounters of Europeans and Africans that ensued transformed indigenous cooking practices into what we know today as JERK.

Where does it hail from?

it’s a style of cooking and seasoning native to Jamaica that began with the island’s indigenous Taino people. The mountainous regions where they lived were remote and harsh, and the mixture of salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and thyme provided the flavourful way of preventing boar meat from spoiling. Yes boar. History has it, they’d grill their meat over the wood of Jamaica’s allspice trees. Jerk as a seasoning, spice rub and marinade however, is thought to originate with African slaves brought to Jamaica by the island’s Spanish (1400s-1650s) and then British colonisers (1650s-1962)

How is traditionally cooked?

It is through that slaves also introduced cooking pits, and would show cook Jerk meat over hot coals and allspice (or pimento) branches. The maroons took the spice rub of the Taino, and they added the crucial element of pit cooking. Wraped in leaves, they’d bury a pig and cover it with hot stones, or slowly roast it over green wood for some twelve hours. Eventually this process would transform barbeque.

What are the key ingredients

Scotch bonnet peppers (which are fircely hot) ans allspice are crucial, while thyme, black pepper, garlic, nutmeg and cinnamon also invariably crop up. For a wetter marinade, oil, vinegar and lime juice are usually added, while some people also stir through soy sauce (this can be controversial) pr fruit juice such as orange or mango.

Which meat is used?

Chicken, pork and goat tend to most often get the Jerk treatment in Jamaican cooking, but vegetables work too.

The Mecca of Jerk

The legendary Mecca for Jerk is Boston beach on the north-eastern end of Jamaica. 3 Little Birds most famous Jerk Pork his named after here – Boston Bay Jerk Pork to which its known has the best Jerk Pork in Jamaica.

Here most of the vendors have built huts over flies directly on the beach like the maroons that came before them. The meat is cooked on pimento wood or sheets of metal used as griddles and sometimes covered with plantain leaves. The typical cooking style uses a marinade or paste that includes pimento, known as allspice and scotch bonnet peppers, similar to habanero. The meat is then marinated and slow smoked over pimento wood.

History of 3 Little Birds – Since 2012

Simon and Alecia have a reputation for their food. Simon a native of Kingston, Jamaica, lovers cooking for big gatherings of family and friends. Alecia who hails from St. Catherine, Jamaica, makes a jerk chicken recipe that every body enjoys – they both shared something in common before they met – they both started cooking at age 10.

This hidden talent was perhaps revealed in Atlanta, USA where the couple was cooking for friends, families and large gatherings and had heaps of compliments bestowned on them about their food. This hobby took them all of over New Zealand at some of the best food festivals showcasing their culture while highlighting Kiwis with the Flavors of Jamaica. Their favorite event, the Newtown Festival gave rise to the birth of 3 Little Birds in 2012 in Newtown, Wellington.

Even till today 3 Little Birds birthplace, Newtown Festival, has been a crowed favorite to the owners. They have been a part of this festival since 2012 and will continue to honor that birthright.

Apart from catching them at their favorite festivals the companies brand is evolving. They currently provides meals on wheels A FOOD TRUCK a 1960 Vintage Fire Engine converted onto a JAMAICAN FOOD TRUCK!