Cooking with an Empire's Child - Pork Jerk

Hooray! The first day of the CEC series is upon us. Have you got your ingredients ready? This morning I had to rush down to the village shop to get a couple of items.  Can you see the cheats I bought in this picture?

The point of this series is to make recipes accessible to families. SO please, if you don't have fresh garlic, don't panic. Just use powdered garlic today. It won't be exactly the same, but who cares? I buy frozen garlic, because it comes out exactly like fresh crushed garlic without the hassle and those horrid garlic cloves that start growing little green tendrils in your fridge.

I got a delicious looking free-range pork fillet for today. Worth every penny.


So, to begin take the following ingredients and throw them in your food processor (or get out your mortar and pestle if you insist on being Julia Child).

2  cups  coarsely chopped green onions
1/2  cup  coarsely chopped onion
2  tablespoons  white vinegar
1  tablespoon  soy sauce
1  tablespoon  vegetable oil
2  teaspoons salt
2  teaspoons  fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
2  teaspoons  brown sugar
2  teaspoons peeled fresh ginger
1  teaspoon  ground allspice
1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
1/8  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
2  garlic cloves, minced
1  to 4 Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, seeded and chopped (I used a tspn of chili puree)

Whizz it in your food processor until it as smooth as possible. This will take a while, keep it on a low setting and go and do something else. You may need to scrape the sides a couple of times in the beginning.

In the meantime, cut the pork lengthways down the middle, without cutting right through. Fold open, the cut each half again.

Open out flat and spread your spice puree all over it. Then put it in a dish with a lid, and spread the rest of the puree around it, so it is nicely covered. Put the lid on and put it in the fridge.

It should marinade for at least three hours. I'll be back this evening with photographs of the grill, and a little history of the dish, so you have something to talk about over your glass of wine by the fire...


See the grand finale.

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