Jerk (Cooking)

Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet-marinated with a hot spice mixture known as Jamaican jerk spice. The technique, known as jerking, originated with Jamaica's indigenous Arawak and Taino peoples and was adopted by descendants of seventeenth-century Jamaican Maroons who intermingled with them. Chicken or pork is most commonly jerked, and the main ingredients of the spicy jerk marinade are allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers, both native to Jamaica and originally cultivated by the Taino. The smoky taste of jerked meat is achieved using various cooking methods, including modern wood-burning ovens.