We would be lying if we said food wasn’t one of the main reasons why we wanted to visit Jamaica. We’ve heard amazing things about authentic Jamaican cuisine in the past couple of years and wanted to try it out for ourselves.

Here are seven foods we got to taste and recommend you try when traveling to Jamaica:

Jerk Chicken

Jamaica is the land of jerk. And one of the foods we were most excited to try was the jerk chicken. Begad has been a really big fan of practically anything jerk to the point where he’s made his own jerk burgers and wings! So the first day we arrived, we had to get jerk chicken. We asked some locals in Montego Bay and they said that Scotchies was the best place we could go to get our fix. We ordered the jerk wings, of course, and they were probably the best wings we’ve ever had! They were a little sweet and tangy and just overall delicious. Ten wings wasn’t enough for us so we also ordered some festival, fish and sweet potato bread pudding.

In Negril, we went to Rick’s Cafe, and had the jerk chicken there. The good thing is, no matter where you go in Jamaica, if you like jerk chicken in general, you won’t be disappointed.

Festival

We’ve heard about festival before going to Jamaica, but for some reason we were expecting something completely different. When it came out we were kind of like “this is it?,” but then we realized it was more like a corn bread than a main dish. In Jamaica, people eat it with jerk chicken or fish.

Ackee and Saltfish

Jamaica’s national dish is ackee and saltfish. Ackee is actually a fruit that was imported to the Caribbean from Ghana in the mid-1700s. Jamaicans traditionally eat ackee and saltfish for breakfast, although we had it for dinner. We came across an ackee tree when we were horseback riding with Chukka and our tour guides told us that people have to be really careful when preparing the meal because there are poisonous toxins in parts of the fruit. So if you try it out, make sure you order it from a reputable restaurant. We personally weren’t huge fans, but it is worth a try seeing as though it is the national dish.

Curried Goat

There’s a lot of Indian influence when it comes to food in Jamaica. The curried goat, for example, originates from India. The dish was brought to the island in the 18th century by the East Indian indentured workers when Jamaica was colonized by the British. Traditionally, the dish is made for parties and special occasions. Luckily, we were able to get a taste of it at Margaritaville.

Bammy

Bammy is a traditional deep-fried cassava flatbread that originated from the native inhabitants of Jamaica, the Arawak people. It’s similar to a tortilla — you can eat it with all kinds of food, or just have it as a snack.

Soursop

We don’t know about you guys, but we’ve never heard about soursop before our trip. On our way back from Negril, our driver had us stop at this shack on the side of the road. There were fruits hanging all around it. We ordered a coconut to drink from and then the owner offered to carve it out when we finished drinking the water. He carved out the coconut jelly from the bottom, sprinkled some cane sugar on it and rolled it up for us.

And then he pulled out this green spiky fruit and insisted we try it. He cut it up for us and packed the rest in a bag for us to take back. It was sour, as the name implies, but it also had a hint of sweetness. It was like eating candy minus the guilt. The seeds are also big so it was very easy to eat. Both the coconut jelly and the soursop were SO fresh and clean. We would have it every day if we could.

Jamaican Patties

We wouldn’t have known that Jamaican patties even existed if we hadn’t seen a piece of paper pasted to one of the walls at our hotel saying freshly baked chicken and beef patties are available every morning at the supermarket next door. We jumped at the opportunity to see what they were and if they would be any good. On the morning before our Chukka tour, we went to the supermarket and grabbed a couple to go. Our consensus was that the beef one tasted better than the chicken.

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If you end up booking a trip to Jamaica, make sure you indulge in some authentic Jamaican cuisine. You won’t be disappointed.

Have you had any of these dishes? What was your take? Share with us in the comments below!