Read, cook, nyam

Anthony Gambrill

It is 50 years old, moved with us through four homes, most loved for my favourite dish, Beef Wellington, and my wife's favourite, salt fish and ackee, and as far as I know, it is the first cookbook of family-collected recipes to be published in the 20th century. The author is Leila Brandon, and its title, A Merry Go Round of Recipes.

She insists in the foreword that it was not to be considered a conventional cookbook but rather "a selection of recipes from a scrapbook". She went on to say that she should like to see "a really comprehensive cookbook from Jamaica, which would take its place in the countries all over the world, famed for their excellent cuisine". Her dream has come true quite literally, with more than 30 books on Jamaican cuisine carried on the Internet today.

Mrs Brandon's book contains 177 recipes and our copy - now sans cover, spilt on, torn and occasionally singed - probably saved our marriage. I undertook marriage with one recipe in my repertoire - chilli con carne - and I don't mind admitting it impressed several Saturday night dates. My wife, Linda, joined me in holy matrimony and had to ask me the first morning, "How can you tell when water is boiling?"

This didn't seem as ridiculous 40 years ago as it sounds today. She was brought up in a household where the cook, Madge, was master of her domain and only the mistress of the house could enter the kitchen safely. Like so many Jamaican households, the culinary delights came from recipes handed down orally or in writing over generations and collected in scrapbooks like Leila Brandon's.

In recent years, this tradition has found its way into several published works, many gloriously illustrated with colourful photography and accompanied by texts capturing the family's origin.

Traditional Jamaican Cookery

In 1985, Penguin Books in Britain published Traditional Jamaican Cookery by Norma Benghiat. It can still be found at booksellers in Jamaica. The charm of Mrs Benghiat's book lies in her description of her early life in Spanish Town, going to market and learning cooking in her mother's kitchen. Her book, researched largely at the National Library, traces the roots of many dishes that are family favourites today.

Presumably for the British reader, she devotes space to the sociology of eating in Jamaica (at the time she wrote her book!) - class prejudice, mealtime patterns and customs associated with the seasons. The recipes are traditional and comprehensive, spiced with historical references, Jamaican proverbs, and even a riddle.

For instance, she reveals a not-commonplace derivation of the name 'stamp and go' described by a Caroline Sullivan in her 1893 Jamaica cookery book. In Sullivan's time, it was a simple roadside snack for travellers, hence its name. Norma Benghiat also brought her penchant for food and drink research to Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, published by Ian Randle in 2008.

Which, of course, raises the question: What else Jamaican can be featured as cuisine in books? There is a ganja cookbook (US, of course), Rasta recipes, breakfast Jamaican style. Chorvalle Johnson, yoga enthusiast, fun-runner and top merchant banker, for instance, has found the time to write a vegan Jamaican cookbook.

No overview of Jamaican cooking is complete without talking about jerk which, for everything from pork to pizza, can now be found on menus around the world. Our ancestors, the Taino Indians, first employed the technique of slow-cooking hog meat over a smoky wood fire, which the Maroons in Jamaica adopted. As word spread of how mouth-watering jerked pork tasted, the best place to buy was Boston Bay in Portland early in the game. Now it's available right across Jamaica.

Jerk barbecue from JA

Helen Willinsky (née Skinner) had the initiative to publish Jerk Barbecue From Jamaica in 1990. Helen, Jamaica-born, herself a graduate from a classy Swiss hotel school and who, with her husband, managed Goblin Hill in San San, spends the first five pages making sure the reader understands every aspect of jerk! Her recipes also include all the trimmings - bammy, festival and assorted vegetables - and marinades or jerk rubs (paste).

The mother of all Jamaican cookbooks is Enid Donaldson's The Real Taste of Jamaica, with Ray Chen's superb photographs enhancing the content. Now in its seventh printing, the late author describes herself as "a practising Jamaican cook, not a writer who collects recipes". She includes a short history of Jamaican cooking, an A-Z of local foods, an entertaining essay by Barbara Gloudon titled 'Old Time Something', in which Barbara describes the joys of eating while growing up in Jamaica.

There's no need to have reservations about Mrs Donaldson's qualifications. She was a home economics teacher, a culinary judge, a cuisine consultant, a TV presenter at home and abroad, and even judged a Festival beauty contest. If you only need one Jamaican cookbook, this is it.

The Mill Press seems to have led the way in publishing cookbooks that feature branded products, usually condiments. The 1993 Busha Browne's Indispensable Compendium of Traditional Jamaican Cookery is a highly informative, highly entertaining, highly readable cookbook. The source of this definitive compendium of Jamaican recipes apparently was the archives of Charles Browne's family in Hanover. Like all printed collections of family recipes, his have been carefully updated while retaining their unique Jamaican character. Every one is seasoned with a touch of one of the Busha Browne brand condiments. Although currently unavailable, a fifth reprint is promised.

popular 'sponsored' cookbooks

Another pair of popular 'sponsored' cookbooks are Virginia Burke's Caribbean Kitchen and Eat Caribbean in which Walkerswood products frequently make an appearance. Born and educated in Jamaica, Virginia has been a key figure in popularising the line of Walkerswood sauces, seasonings and condiments. While not all the recipes in the two books are solely Jamaican, they provide the reader with a kaleidoscope of culinary adventures.

Finally, the latest venture into telling a family story through cooking is Robin Lim Lumsden's Belcour Cookbook. This gorgeous 270-page work of love contains Jamaica, French and Chinese recipes that Robin has collected.

Its five sections are introduced with her description of the influences that contributed to the recipes. Belcour brand preserves and sauces, even their honey and marmalade, play a part, but it is the photography by Robyn Noble (ably helped by her food stylist Donna - watch out, Ray Chen!) that makes dish after dish so appealing. The book begins with dishes she serves at her home, Belcour in the St Andrew foothills, for casual entertaining.

Next, Robin features recipes originating with her father's Chinese family, then popular traditional Jamaican recipes found in her maternal grandmother's collection.

For large family gatherings up at Newcastle, there are recipes for entertaining, and finally the author includes recipes "tourist-tested" in Ocho Rios.

Although many dishes may be familiar by name in this cookbook, these are flavourful differences that you will find surprising. If there was ever a way to write a book you didn't know how to put down, this is it.

Anthony Gambrill is a playwright. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.