An evening with JANUKA part 3 - From Emancipation to independence 2 of 5

BLOG 5 (B): BACKGROUND INFORMATION (contd) – THE FOOD WE ATE

I enjoyed discussing this topic with family, friends and the wider Jamaican community. It was interesting to note that the same food would have different names depending on which part of the island they were produced. Elders would recall their favourite foods with smile on their faces and watery mouths and even recalled the names of the farmers and women who cooked it. They told me they were never hungry growing up in Jamaica because of the abundance of food, fruits and water. That was also my experience. The Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Heritage by Olive Senior was also a useful comparative resource.

This food list was used to comprise a Dub – Rap entitled “Wi shoulda neva go hungry in a fi wi culture”

LIST OF JAMAICAN FOOD AND FRUITS

ORIGINS: Arawak Indians, Spanish, Portuguese Jews, French, Africans (Ashanti, Fanti, Yoruba, Ibo people), Europeans (English, Irish, German), Indians, Chinese, Arabs/ Middle East/Syrians.

Apples Otaheite Custard/Bullock’s heart Crab Apple Mammey	Avocadoes Midshipman’s butter Poorman’s butter Round- Simmonds Long neck Allegator Green Skin Purple Skin	Breadfruit Yellow heart Cus Cus	Bananas Lakatan Gross Mitchel Robuster Chiney White house Froggy Red banana
Beans Red/Kidney Beans Butter Beans Lima Beans String Beans Broad Beans Crab –eye Rose cocoa	Cocoas (Taro and Tannia) Bedoe Comander Minty Sally Dasheen	Coconut Mandora Jamaica Tall Malayan Dwarf	Eggs Boobie eggs Hen eggs
Fruits Guinep Gimbilin Jew/June Plum Hog Plum Pomegranate Guava	Fruits Sea Grape Stinking Toe Naseberry Papaya Grapefruit Water-Melon	Fruits Mammee Apple Rose Apple Star Apple Custard Apple Crab Apple Otaheitte Apple Golden Apple Velvet Apple	Fruits Sweet Sop Sour Sop Tamarind Passion Fruit Coolie Plum Garden Cherries
Fruits Peanut Cashew Calabash Fruit Fig Date Palm Jack Fruit Pineapple	Oranges Navel Orange Seville Orange Valencia Sweet Orange Sour Orange Shaddock Ugli	Oranges Tangerine Mandarine Ortanique Limes Lemon	Mangoes Kidney Julie Suppy Stringy Black Number Eleven
Mangoes Bombay East Indian Cow Tone Turpentime Robbin	Plantains Horse Maiden	Peppers Scotch bonnet Bird Red Yellow Green Cayenne/ Chilli Paprika	Peas Gungo/ Pigeon Congo Jerusalem Cow Black Eye
Sugar Canes Craw Fish Stripe Salango White Baby Leg Uba (to feed cattle) Hard (for sugar and rum)	Tomatoes Beef Ox-heart Potentate Margrove Plum Small cooking	Vegetables White Cho Cho Green Cho Cho (also called chayote, bironne, christophene) Okra Bitter Casava Sweet Casava Corn Pumpkin	Vegetables Watercress Callaloo Spinach Indian Kale White Cabbage Lettuce Cucumber Gerkin Turnip
Vegetables Susumber Escallion Irish Potatoes Sweet Potato Garden egg/Egg plant/ Aubergene Carrot Capsicum (hot & sweet pepper)	Yams Yellow (Afu) White (Afu) St Vincent Negro Yampie (Indian) Lucea Thaw Chineese Renta(Trinidad) Sweet Mozella	Fish Calepeaver- (Jamaica salmon) Conch Land Crab Sea Crabs Cutlass Goat Grouper Jack Jonga/Janga	Fish June/Jew Kingfish Lobster Makerel Conch Tiki- Tiki fish Marlin (blue) Mullet (mountain) Old wife Oysters Parrot Red herring
Fish Saltfish Shad Shrimps Red Snapper Black Snapper Grey Snapper Yellow tail Snapper Red tail Snapper Red belly Snapper Sprats Turtle Solomon Gundy	Meat Goat Cow Pigs Iguanas Conies Chicken Senseh Fowl Guinea Fowl	Herbs/Spices Sour-sop Leaves Pimento Leaves Lime leaves Velvet Bush Arrow Root Jack in the Bush Cowfoot Bush Elder Bush	Herbs/Spices Liquorice Bush Ackee Leaves Pawpaw Leaves Chew stick Cassareep Dandelion Bitters Castor oil
Herbs/Spices Bissy/Kola Sage Thistle Leaf of Life Wis Parsley Thyme Escallion Sweet Basil	Herbs/Spices Cinnamon Nutmeg Mace All Spice Pimento Vanilla Wangla/Sesame seed Annatto Tuna/Aloe Vera Single Bible	Herbs/Spices Ginger Garlic Onions Black Pepper White Pepper Cardomon Turmeric Cloves	Bread and Buns Bammy Bulla Cake Toto Johnny Cake Grater Cake Fried Dumplins Corn Bread Coconut Bread Banana Bread
Bread and Buns Ginger Bread Pitta Bread Bun and Cheese Patties Coconut Bun Easter Bun Bread and Pear Cocoa Bread Hard dough Bread Peg Bread	Candies Peppermint Candy Peanut Brittle Ginger Candies Paw – Paw Balls Tamarind balls Mint balls Paradise plum Bustamante backbone (stagger back) Gizada -pinch mi round) Coconut Sugar Cakes	Candies Coconut Drops Orange Sweetmeats Banana Figs Breadfruit Blossom- Preserve Tamarind Preserve Candid Fruit / Ginger, Peel Pinda cake-Wangla Guava Cheese Mango Cheese	Jams and Jellies Seville orange marmalade Tangerine marmalade Banana Jam Mango Jam Pineapple Jam Sorrel Jam Garden Cherry Jam Garden Cherry Jelly Hog Plum Jam Guava Jelly Mango Jelly Sorrel Jelly
Soups Pepperpot Soup Black Crab Pepperpot Callaloo Soup Ackee Soup Cold Avocado Soup Beef Soup Coconut Soup	Cooked Food Roast Guinea Fowl Roast Duck Roast Beef Corned Beef Spiced Beef Salt Beef Tripe and Beans	Cooked Food Jerk pork Jerk Chicken Rice and Peas Gungu Peas Stew Oxtail & Beans Cow foot & Beans Johnny/Journey Cakes	Cooked Food Curry Goat Curry Chicken Curried Ackees Curried Crab Curry Lobster Curry Shrimps Brown Strew Fish
Cooked Food Fricaseed Game bird Ackra cakes(black eyed peas) Candied Sweet Potatoes Ackee and Saltfish Saltfish and Paw Paw Susumber and Saltfish	Soups Conch Meat Soup Fish Tea/Soup Pumpkin Soup Turtle Soup Gungo Peas Soup Red Peas Soup Jonga/crayfish Soup Mannish Water Oxtail Soup	Cooked Food Liver and Onions Run Dung Parched corn Ground corn Asham – Sham Sham- Brown George Coction-parched corn	Cooked Food Avocado Dip Cod Fish Balls Turn Cormeal Callaloo in butter Fufu Cornmeal dumpling Flour dumpling
Cooked Food Escoveitch Fish Boiled/Baked/Crab Turtle Balls Beef and Okra Fricasseed Chicken Baked Cho Cho	Cooked Food Saltfish Salad Saltfish and Rice Shrimp and Rice Stew Peas and Rice Roast Breadfruit Boiled Breadfruit Breadfruit in Coconut -Sauce	Cooked food Pickled Red Herring Solomon Gundy Fried Plantain Baked Plantain Boiled Plantain Plantain Tart Stamp and Go Plantain Chips Banana Chips Coconut Chips Breadfruit Chips	Porridge Cornmeal Hominy Banana Cassava Plantain
Desserts Sweet Potato Pudding Mixed Fruit Salad Matrimony Angel Food Ripe Bananas and Cream Baked Bananas Banana Tart Banana Custard Banana Fritters Banana Biscuits Stewed Cashew Stewed Guava	Desserts Stewed Otaheite Apples Coconut Cream Coconut Biscuits Coconut Macaroons Jelly Cow-foot Jelly Irish Moss Trifle Seville Orange Custard Cassava Pone Corn Meal Pone	Desserts Cho Cho Pudding Dukunu (Blue drawers) Pineapple Pie Plantain Tarts Cho Cho Pie Guava Pie Mango Pie Gizadas Syrups Rum Cake Grater Cake Bread Pudding Christmas Pudding	Ice Creams Banana Coconut Guava Mango Pineapple Sour-sop Snow Ball
Drinks Lime Squash Fruit punch (orange, pineapple & limes) Coconut Drink Carrot Punch Peanut Punch Cashew Punch Banana Nectar Banana + Fruit punch Banana Punch Banana Milkshake	Drinks Sarsaparilla Ginger Beer Sorrel Tamarind Sweet-sop Sour-sop Pawpaw Ripe Plantain Pineapple Otaheitte Apple	Drinks Cherry Cup Egg Nog Sweet-corn punch Mango Punch Lemonade Guava Drink June Plum drink	Rum Drinks Pineapple Liqueur Falarium Rum Punch Rum Collins Rum Mint Julep Prickly pear punch – (tuna) Banana Daiquiri Jamaica Planters Punch Coconut Daiquiri
Wines Banana wine Cashew wine Grapefruit wine Orange wine Ginger wine Sangaree Pimento dram	Teas Bush Tea Mint Cerasee Ginger Fever grass /lemon Chene root Coffee Chocolate Breadfruit Leaf Corn silk infusion