From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
A Caribbean spice mix containing allspice, pepper, ginger, brown sugar, cinnamon, thyme, garlic and Scotch bonnet pepper, handed down from West Africans taken to Jamaica as slaves during the 17th century. Rubbed and marinated with the spice mix, the meat, most often pork or chicken, is cooked in large, stone-lined barbecue pits, covered with green pimiento wood, which smokes easily, imparting another characteristic flavor. Today, in Jamaica, jerk meats are sold by roadside vendors, who cook in vertically halved oil drums, most often using dry pimiento wood.
