If you check out various brands and recipes for jerk seasoning and marinades, you will find a variety of ingredients in them that certainly did not exist when the old Maroons of the Jamaican backwoods were developing the method out of necessity. I have seen soy sauce, rum, mustard and ketchup used and it seems that everyone has their 'secret ingredient'. The following ingredients are the most essential and should be included: allspice berries, hot pepper sauce, spring onion, ginger, cinnamon, thyme and black pepper. The recipe below is simple. The amount of jerk to use can vary quite a bit and most people learn to use it through trial. You can make your seasoning mild or create a batch of 'lip remover'. Always use less rather than more Iguana Gold until you get a hang of it.

Ingredients:

• - 6 spring onions
• - 1-3 tbsp Iguana Gold-Island Pepper Sauce
• - 2 tsp allspice berries or 1 tsp ground allspice
• - 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tbsp dried thyme
• - 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• - 1 tsp grated nutmeg
• - 1 tsp brown sugar
• - 1 1/2 tsp salt
• - 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• - 1/4 cup cane vinegar or distilled (white) malt vinegar
• - 1 tbsp oil

Directions:

The traditional method is to crudely mash all the ingredients up with a mortar and pestle, then adding the Iguana Gold and use to marinate the meat, discarding any large bits of spring onion, etc, before cooking. To make it easier, you can use a blender to reduce all the ingredients to a thick paste.

Preparation time: 10 minutes. Makes about 2/3 cup