Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill is a very different carnival from anywhere else. This is an international city, so it represents everybody. You walk around every corner here, you'll hear something new. It's awesome.

Walshy Fire

So, today is the first day of the last bank (public) holiday in the UK until Christmas Day, I know, how much does that sucketh! As usual for a bank holiday, the weather looks a little sketchy, bearing in mind this is the “summer” bank holiday, it was actually warmer on the Easter bank holiday back in April! Not to be deterred however we’re having a barbecue, even if someone needs to hold an umbrella whilst I’m cooking.

The way things are going, I think this will be the last barbee of the year so I wanted to do something a little special and as this weekend I should have been in Notting Hill for the carnival, cancelled for obvious reasons, I wanted to try and recreate that vibrant atmosphere for a few good friends in my back garden! There are many foods in the world that you instinctively link with certain cultures or areas. When you think of Jamaica and carnival, jerk is probably the first food to come to mind so, I’ve decided to make Jerk Chicken served with rice and peas to try and recreate some of the Notting Hill vibe!

I’ve made it before and without wishing to sound horribly pretentious, everyone loved it! When you taste Jerk chicken (pork or even seafood lends itself to Jerk also), you'll taste ginger, Scotch Bonnet peppers, thyme, and allspice all at once, culminating in that complex and delicious flavour.

The history of Jerk (a method of cooking rather than a recipe) is actually really interesting also, some historians believe it was originally developed by Maroons, African slaves who escaped into the wilds of Jamaica when the British captured the Jamaica from Spain in 1655. Adapting to their new surroundings, the former slaves made use of the natural food sources available to them, creating the spicy sauce and slowly cooking the meat over a smoking wood fire. Other historians argue that jerking originated with the Amerindians in Jamaica from the Arawak and Taino tribes who intermingled with the Maroons.

Chicken is especially good for jerk. Chicken serves as a delicious blank canvas, and jerk is definitely distinctive enough to transform it into something really tasty. I originally looked at various recipes for Jerk Chicken and many seemed unnecessarily complicated. Eventually I found one that looked fairly straight forward and indeed it was!

This recipe serves eight

You will need the following:

24 Chicken Thighs
4 limes
Spring Onions - 4 bunches
An inch cube of fresh ginger peeled and chopped
8 garlic cloves - crushed
2 shallot
6 to 8 Scotch Bonnet Chillies, depends on your guests tolerance to heat
2 tsp dried thyme
A good Splash of Soy Sauce
A good Splash of vegetable oil
7 tbsp of brown sugar
4 tbsp ground allspice
400g Basmati Rice
Two x 400g can of Coconut Milk
Four x 410g cans of kidney beans drained
Fresh Thyme springs

Preparation the day before

Into a blender add the following:

1 bunch spring onions, Fresh Ginger, Garlic Cloves, Shallot
Chillies, Dried Thyme, Juice 1 lime, Soy Sauce, Vegetable Oil, Brown sugar, 1 tbsp Ground allspice, generous pinch of salt
Blend to a thick paste (don't be tempted to add water, it needs to be nice and thick)
Taste and adjust to taste; the mix should be quite salty (Salt, chilli, sugar, etc.)
Slash the chicken thighs with a sharp knife - this will help the marinade permeate the meat.
Bag up your chicken in a large plastic airtight resealable bag with your jerk paste.
Massage the marinade into the meat with the bag to ensure properly coated.
Refrigerate overnight (6 hours plus)

To make the rice and peas

Rinse the rice well in cold water
Add a pinch of salt, the fresh thyme, chopped bunch of spring onions & 1 tbsp of ground allspice.
Add 600ml of cold water and bring to the boil.
Lower heat to medium, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the drained kidney beans and stir - cook for a further 5 minutes with the lid off to reduce

As I get scared of giving my guests food poisoning from undercooked chicken, I usually give them about ten minutes at 180 degrees fan (356F Gas Mark 4). As I place the thighs into the oven I pre heat the barbeque (I have a gas one, can’t be bothered with all that charcoal nonsense) so it’s nice and hot.

Grill to your liking, crank up the Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff and get stuck in! Go on, give it a go!

What’s on this week?