A taste of the Caribbean at Juici Jerk

BY PALOMA LACY

Caribbean food is currently experiencing a renaissance.

Given South London’s significant Caribbean community, the cuisine has long had a place in locals’ hearts but even here things are changing.

To use modern parlance, we’re seeing a definite levelling up.

New restaurants are coming on stream thick and fast, leading long established ones to up their game.

I’ve been wondering why this might be and I think I’ve cracked it.

Having spent the best part of the past year pretty much incarcerated and unable to travel anywhere, the food we choose to eat is one of the few ways we have of dreaming big.

This is comfort food that feeds the soul long after its hit the stomach.

For me at least, a meal from Juici Jerk in Tooting transported me right back to my honeymoon in Jamaica.

Yes, the food was that good and certainly, for about half an hour one evening a few weeks ago, changed my vista and brought sunshine flooding into my life.

Founded by local boys Jarrell and Troy Johnson, this family business offers contemporary Caribbean cuisine available for collection or delivery from Wednesday to Saturday from noon to 10pm.

Unsurprisingly, the guys didn’t scrimp when it came to portions and even my family of three failed to do little more damage than just one starter and a main meal and mere dent into the second.

Caribbean food is simple and as such often under plays itself.

I guess it’s so popular that it doesn’t need to try, and Batter Prawns was indeed a fine example.

A roaring success as far as we could taste but its description far from doing it anywhere near the justice it so rightly deserves.

Succulent and juicy, well marinated before lightly fried – this was sunshine in a mouthful.

Served with salad and house made jerk barbecue sauce and jerk mayo (£6).

Grilled King Prawns (£7.50) – cooked in garlic butter – were good too but couldn’t reach the dizzy taste heights of its sister dish.

I’m particularly fond of the way these guys cooked Mac & Cheese – rich, gooey, oozing with cheese but still fairly solid to the cut of a fork.

Decorated with chilli flakes, I removed these so that my little one could join in the family feast.

She declared that it was still: “hot”, but persevered like the brave soldier she is.

This was an outright crowd-pleaser of a dish.

Juici Jerk prides itself on following a rigorous 24-hour marination process prior to grilling and shows in the depth of flavours, creating delicious and tender meat.

Rice & Peas is not an easy dish to master, with so many versions giving way to a stodgy finish but this doesn’t apply here.

Delicately seasoned, free-flowing rice grains, punctuated with kidney beans, just as it should be.

Taste-wise, it was spot on. A quarter of Jerk Chicken is £10. A couple of sides are thrown in – plantain and festivals – both surprisingly light.

I’m never sure where I stand on either, simply from the perspective of wondering if they are necessary.

My husband was quick to point out that festivals act as the perfect sweet, doughnut, antidote to a fiery mouth.

I realised he was right as I quickly pushed pieces in my daughter’s direction.

And when it comes to cooling agents, coleslaw is always a winner– rich and creamy and I’m pretty sure was home- made.

Our final surprise of the night was fruit punch.

I don’t suppose there was anything real about it but I admit to feeling rather refreshed after adding a tot of Guyana’s finest rum to it, transforming it into rum punch.

If you fancy being given all the tools and do the cooking yourself, Juici Jerk DIY meal kit is available to try (£30).

Inside the box for two, is all the necessary ingredients to bring authentic flavours to the comfort of your own home with a simple step-by-step guide.

Available on pre-order for delivery. Suite C023, Tooting Works, 89 Bickersteth Road, SW17 9SH.

Frozen meals don’t always have a good reputation but there’s a new range that’s gone a long way to reinventing the ready meal.

Field Doctor has launched with 19 delicious, nutritionally-supercharged meals straight to your door.

They have been designed to make you feel better, inside and out.

The name stems from a belief that the right food can support better health for your body and the planet.

Recipes were tested by a Michelin-trained chef to create meals that boost immunity, support heart health, cognitive health as well as delivering a meal solution for people with digestive issues such as gluten intolerance, coeliac disease, IBS, and general bloating.

The range includes beef and quinoa meatballs, Mediterranean hake and butterbean stew, red pepper and chickpea curry, Malaysian tofu curry, British fish pie, Persian pomegranate chicken and many more.

Once made, the dishes are frozen to lock in goodness and are delivered in recyclable packaging to people’s doors.

Most dishes can be cooked in eight minutes in a microwave but can also be cooked in the oven.

There’s no nasties – no artificial additives, preservatives or processed ingredients.

Field Doctor meals are priced from £5.95 for a single portion and £9.90 for a meal for two.

Minimum order is £35.00. Visit www.fielddoctor.co.uk.