Sunday 17 June 2012

Cook Some Jamaican Patties Today to Thrill Your Taste Buds

 Jamaican patties are typically made with meat and spices with this mixture being encased in a flaky pastry shell. If you are a vegetarian, you could take a combination of vegetables and cook them with the same spices to make your patties. This patty has a certain history behind it that makes it even more fun to cook.

History of this Jamaican patties

The English version of the turnover was introduced to the Caribbean many years ago during the colonization of the area. The indenture servants and African Slaves added their choice of spices to the turnover with cumin, curry, cayenne pepper or the Scotch bonnet pepper that is native to the area to come up with a recipe for Jamaican patties. Also, turmeric was added to the pastry shell for flavor and color. The pastry then seals in the flavors of Jamaica and the entire Caribbean area.

Later, as the Jamaican migrated to the United State to work in the medical and other professions the brought the their recipes for the Jamaican patties with them and soon these patties started showing up in New York restaurants in the area where the people from Jamaica and the Caribbean settled. These patties slowly became popular in other parts of the US and abroad.

No Need for Recipe

If you become familiar with what spices and flavorings the Jamaican people use, you can really come up with own recipe for Jamaican patties. They use onions, Scotch bonnet peppers or other hot peppers, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, allspice and even cinnamon at times. Just cook up the onions and peppers first as to soften them and then add the ground meat of your choice to brown it. A little oil can be added if need be to get the browning process going. Throw in the spices to taste, along with salt and black pepper, and simmer in some beef or chicken broth. Use a pastry recipe of your choosing or even pre-made pastry dough, just mix in some turmeric. When these patties bake, they retain the yellow color from the turmeric.

Vegetable Patties

Now, imagine instead of meat cooking diced carrots, potatoes, green peas (frozen or fresh), sweet corn (cut off cob or frozen), and shredded cabbage with the same spices and flavorings. This mixture can be placed in the pastry dough to be baked just as the meat ones. Once you bite into a Jamaican patty made this way, you will probably not miss the meat.

Variations

You could combine the meat and vegetable recipes together for a unique Jamaican patty. The fun part about making food in your own kitchen is the ability to experiment. This way, you can add the things you like to any recipe and change it to suit your likes and dislikes.

Appetizer or Main Course

Jamaican patties can be made very small for an appetizer to your meal or to be served as finger food for a party, or it will make an ideal main course when made the traditional size of turnovers.

Make Extra

Do not just make enough of your Jamaican patties recipe for right now, make extra and freeze for later use. You could freeze the patties prior to baking and then pop the patties in when ready to serve. Try some today.

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