“Our spicy spin on a whole salmon is a family favourite every Christmas. It always goes quickly, so you have to be fast to get it on your plate! We don’t make any regular salmon – this is our version with fragrant and delicious FLAVA, the marinade complementing the taste of the salmon,” say Jamaican food-lovers, Craig and Shaun McAnuff.
“We love making our own jerk marinade at our family home, and neighbours knock on the door to say they can smell the spicy flavours from down the street. We use a blend of natural ingredients: onion, garlic, pimento, thyme and scotch bonnets. It’s bad!”
Honey-roasted jerk salmon
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 whole salmon about 1.5–2kg
- olive oil
- handful of sliced okra
- 2 limes cut into wedges
- handful of scotch bonnet peppers (optional)
- 4 spring onions
- handful of fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
For the marinade:
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 60 ml lime juice (from 3 limes)
- 1 tbsp pimento (allspice) berries
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon or freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped ginger
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves peeled
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 scotch bonnet peppers deseeded
- honey
Method
- Get your fishmonger to scale and gut the salmon, or do yourself if ya bad. Use a sharp knife to score parallel lines diagonally along the fish on both sides.
- Unroll a piece of foil large enough to wrap and cover the fish. Pour some olive oil on the foil, then spread out the okra, lime wedges and scotch bonnets (if using).
- Put the jerk marinade ingredients into a blender and blend in short bursts until you have a thick paste. Massage the jerk marinade into the fish, getting it right into the cuts, then place the fish on top of the vegetables in the foil. Slice the spring onions into lengths and place them inside the fish’s cavity with the thyme and garlic cloves. Wrap the foil into a parcel, leaving an air space above the fish. Leave to marinate for two hours.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C Fan/180°C/Gas 4. Place the fish parcel on a baking tray and bake for 50 minutes to an hour until the fish is cooked through.
Nutrition
Original Flava: Caribbean Recipes From Home by Craig and Shaun McAnuff, photography by Matt Russell, is published by Bloomsbury.
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