Jamaica’s set to get spicy

Jamaican cuisine lovers will soon get a chance to sample its great range, in Kingston.

Anyone who likes great dishes like ackee and saltfish, oxtail, escovitch fish, jerk chicken and curry goat should head to the Jamaica Food and Drink Festival 2025. It will showcase culinary innovations through a vibrant fusion of spices and flavours, complemented by rhythmic music and artisanal beverages.

The culinary journey begins on Thursday 13 November at ‘Kuyah’ in downtown Kingston, under the theme: ‘Jamaican Food Reimagined’. Patrons will enjoy inventive takes on traditional Jamaican cuisine crafted by 10 chefs, complemented by celebrated local spirits and rums.

The festival continues the next day with ‘Decade 2.0’ at Hope Gardens, featuring a dynamic culinary line-up that includes crisp, pork palooza, chopstick, and picante. This year’s staging will include input from 25 chefs.

On Saturday 15 November Ocean Boulevard in downtown Kingston will come alive with Meat Streets and the Market, featuring street food, music, and live entertainment. The festival concludes with a crowd favourite - Boozy Brunch - on the Sunday.

Floyd Green, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, said: “This is the start of a new decade for the food and drink festival, and having gone through 10 years, I think they are well established now. This will be their biggest year ever. It is well positioned in Eat Jamaican Month.

“We believe that our foods can be utilised for all types of palates all over the world such as fine dining. We are ready for that, and the more we push that, is the more exports we will see of our sauces, our seasonings, all the things we produce here.”

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, noted that Jamaica’s food culture is as powerful and influential as reggae music, track and field, and the visual arts.

“It gives our chefs, bartenders and artisans an opportunity to show the artistry in Jamaican cuisine. It also allows them to blend tradition with innovation, bringing forward recipes passed down through generations, while providing bold twists that surprise even the most seasoned palate. In doing so, they carry forward our heritage while also expanding it,” she stated.