Curried goat, escovitch fish, jerk chicken — if you’ve had any of these dishes, you’ve tasted the heat. And you’ll definitely say, “Ya mon!” to anyone asking, “Is Jamaican food spicy?”
We like our peppers, and especially revere di scotch bonnet pepper.
But the spices in Jamaican food aren’t there just for the heat.
Not Always Spicy, But Always Yummy
In Jamaican dishes, the spicy tings don’t just hit your taste buds like a hot bowl of soup. They coat your palate with peppery, herby, fruity, or sweet flavors. Pure island flavors, in short, and spicy is just one of the many tastes you’ll enjoy in Jamaican food.
When you’re looking through a Jamaican food menu in Dubai and you like it super spicy, try the pepper shrimp. If you want the spice level to just hum in the background, try the jerk chicken.
Do Jamaicans eat spicy food? Yes, but not all the time, so we have some dishes that have intense heat levels and some that just have a likkle tap on the tongue.
Spicy or not, Jamaican dishes will always mean yummy servings of comfort food.
What Jamaican Food Is Not Spicy?
Ackee and salt fish, Jamaica’s national dish, can be spicy and not spicy.
You can adjust the recipe to suit your taste or if you’re at our Jamaican restaurant in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, talk to your server about your comfort level for spicy food.
Some examples of flavorful but not spicy Jamaican dishes are:
- Fried festival dumplings which you can eat on their own, or with soup or curry
- Beef patties, which are seasoned with herbs
- Oxtail stew, a robust and flavorful stew without the heat
- Stew peas, a thick and hearty stew of red kidney beans in coconut milk with herbs and spices
- Porridge, which is warm and creamy and flavored with nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon
- Sauteed cabbage, with bell peppers, onion, and garlic
What Makes Jamaican Food Spicy?
A key ingredient in most Jamaican dishes is scotch bonnet pepper. It grows in abundance all over the island, and Jamaican cooking is all about using fresh local ingredients.
This Caribbean pepper is also in Ting Irie’s specially made in-house spicy sauces (along with another Jamaican ingredient, pimento), which you can put on just about anything to give yuh meals a kick.
How spicy is the scotch bonnet pepper?
If you’ve had a jalapeño, the scotch bonnet pepper is 12 to 14 times hotter.
On the Scoville scale, which rates the pungent degree of fruit in the Capsicum genus (including peppers and chilis), the scotch bonnet pepper hits 100,000 Scoville heat units (SHU). It’s “spicy hot.”
So it’s pretty hot but not so hot that your tastebuds can’t appreciate the flavor of this bright chili pepper. Compare it to the also popular pepper, habanero, which is “very hot” at 250,000 SHU.
The scotch bonnet pepper comes in different types, and each one has a distinct flavor profile.
- Yellow Scotch Bonnet: The bright, yellow color of this scotch bonnet pepper tells you the heat level isn’t going to be potent. It has more of a sweet flavor to it, adding a vibrant fruity hint to sauces, seasonings or curries.
- Tobago Scotch Bonnet: This type of scotch bonnet pepper comes from Tabago, and it has a slightly elongated shape that doesn’t match the tam o’ shanter silhouette (for which this pepper’s named). It’s less sweeter than the yellow variety and it comes in different colors.
- Chocolate Scotch Bonnet: When this type of scotch bonnet pepper matures, it turns brown. It has a smoky, earthy flavor profile and it is hotter than the other varieties.
We don’t just use scotch bonnet peppers for the heat. These chilies have a distinct fruity flavor to them, like apples, tomatoes, and cherries. There’s some sweetness in these chili peppers, and that sweetness plays off really well with the other spices we blend.
Spices like pimento (or allspice), paprika, ginger, and cinnamon can also be used to turn up the heat.
The way some dishes are cooked also adds to di spiciness. Jerk seasoning, for example, is dry-rubbed on meat, which creates a layer of crust that heightens the intensity of the seasoning.
Scotch bonnet peppers are so flavorful that even Rastafarians, who follow the ital (or all-natural, additive- and chemical-free) diet, use the spicy hot pepper to replace salt and processed flavor additives in their dishes.
Is Jamaican food spicy?
To sum it up, yes, some Jamaican dishes are spicy and some, not so. Although the chili peppers we use do bring the heat, they also create depth and variety in flavor.
Once you’ve discovered which Jamaican dishes satisfy your cravings, you’ll keep coming back for more.
Spice Up Yuh Life at Ting Irie
Traditional Jamaican food with a twist, bold flavors, and spicy notes, Ting Irie serves gourmet dishes with home-cooked love. And just like in di island we love so much, we bring the energy and spirit that turn every dining experience into a celebration.
Join us for some amazing happenings, from Ladies Night and Dutty Wine Brunch to Happi Hour. So, come and eat, drink, and party the Jamaican way at Ting Irie.
