quote:

[jamaica's] colonial era was a time of contrast. while those who worked the fields lived on vegetables, the planters who owned the fields enjoyed a life style as elegant as any back home in europe. their plantations had huge kitchens and large household staffs, and they combined old world culinary traditions with the new world plenty to produce legend-inspiring meals. they served all the vegetables that their lands produced, but the keystones of their generous cuisines were the meats...raised on the plantations. and today, long after the opulence has gone, there remains a tradition of hearty eating and a treasure of fanciful meat recipes....

for the most part, only the legend remains. the balls, the splendid dinners, the clothes and furniture and paintings brought at huge cost from europe are no more. the legions of servants are gone. the greathouses that were a mark of the wealth of the 18th century planters have nearly all succombed to hurricanes, termites and the inexorable pressures of modern economics....

[in spite of this], the foods and flavours of the past are on everybody's tongue. in this part of the world...much that is connected with the past is disappearing. but when it comes to food, dishes that were once enjoyed only by the rich...are being revived, gradually forming a heritage for all who live on the islands.