SPECIAL EDITION


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DESTINATIONS JAMAICA | CARIBBEAN


Jamaica offers a feast of flavours, as a group of agents discover during the Jamaica Tourist Board’s 70th anniversary celebrations. Sasha Wood reports


he sweet, smoky aroma reaches me before I even set eyes on it. My nose has been leading me here for days, via spicy patties from food trucks in Negril, tender barbecued chicken on


the beach in Ocho Rios, rich bean stew in the Blue Mountains and curried goat in Kingston. Jamaica arguably has the most confident homegrown cuisine in the Caribbean and this colourful roadside shack called Scotchies in Montego Bay – with a branch in Ocho Rios – is the go-to spot for authentic jerk. In the smokehouse, I see the secret to jerk first-hand.


The cook lifts the giant metal corrugated hood to reveal rows of pork and chicken simmering above


burning wood from the Jamaican allspice tree. I take a seat in the rustic garden ready to savour a lunch of spice-rubbed chicken with scotch bonnet sauce, cinnamon-infused ‘festival’ dumplings and rice and peas that I know will be almost impossible to find off-island due to the pimento wood-infused cooking process. It’s the culmination of an agent fam trip that’s revealed Jamaica’s true nature, away from the allure of its tropical beaches. By the time I sniffed the scent of Scotchies, I was back in Montego Bay, where my journey began at Sangster International airport seven days earlier. But during that week, I’d travelled all over the ²


The Blue Mountains, Jamaica


PICTURE: Shutterstock/ Marc Stephan


travelweekly.co.uk 28 AUGUST 2025 55


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