Jamaican Jerk Gravy

Jerk is a seasoning and a cooking method, built on pimento wood smoke, allspice, thyme and scotch bonnet. This takes the same flavour set and turns it into a gravy to go with the meat, which is not traditional but is very good, particularly if you have cooked jerk chicken in the oven and want to make use of what is left in the tin. It is aromatic and warm rather than simply hot.

Ingredients

Makes about 550ml, enough for six

• 3 tbsp fat and juices from jerk chicken or pork, or rapeseed oil
• 6 spring onions, chopped known as scallions in Jamaica and used far more generously than we tend to here
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 20g (¾oz) fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp ground allspice pimento, the defining jerk spice
• 1 tsp dried thyme, or 4 sprigs fresh
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 scotch bonnet, deseeded and finely chopped leave it whole and remove it later for a milder gravy
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 600ml (1 pint) hot chicken stock
• 2 tbsp dark rum optional
• 2 tsp cornflour slaked in 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• salt and black pepper

Kit

• Roasting tin or heavy pan
• Wooden spoon
• Small bowl
• Sieve

Method

1. Set the roasting tin over a medium heat with the fat and juices, or heat the oil in a heavy pan. Add the spring onions and cook for four minutes until soft and bright.

2. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for two minutes, scraping the base of the tin to lift the sticky jerk residue, which is where most of the flavour lives.

3. Turn the heat down and add the allspice, thyme, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir for one minute until the kitchen smells strongly of pimento. Allspice loses its perfume if scorched, so keep the heat low.

4. Add the scotch bonnet, soy sauce and brown sugar and cook for two minutes, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture looks dark and syrupy.

5. Pour in the rum if using and let it bubble for one minute to cook off the alcohol, then add the hot stock and bring to a simmer.

6. Simmer uncovered for twelve minutes so the spices soften into the stock and the gravy reduces by about a fifth. Fish out the thyme sprigs if you used fresh.

7. Stir the cornflour slurry and pour it into the simmering gravy, stirring, then cook for one minute until glossy and lightly thickened. It should be pourable, not thick.

8. Off the heat, add the lime juice, then taste and season. It should be warm with allspice, sweet at the edges, salty from the soy and clearly hot without burning. Strain it if you want it smooth, and serve with jerk chicken, rice and peas and fried plantain.

Tips worth knowing

• Allspice is the whole thing. If yours has been in the cupboard three years it will taste of nothing, and buying a fresh jar makes more difference here than any other change you could make.
• Deseeding the scotch bonnet takes out a lot of the heat but keeps the fruity perfume, which is what you actually want in a gravy.
• For a non-alcoholic version, leave out the rum and add a tablespoon of pineapple juice with the stock for a similar sweet fruity note.
• A tablespoon of shop bought jerk paste stirred in with the stock is a fair shortcut on a weeknight, though the pastes are usually salty so hold back on the soy.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps five days in the fridge and gets hotter over the first day or two as the scotch bonnet infuses. Reheat gently with a splash of stock. It freezes for three months, though the cornflour loosens, so simmer it briefly to bring it back.

Questions people ask