Grilled Pimento Jerk Chicken

Pimento is the word Jamaicans use for allspice, the berries of the Pimenta dioica tree. Naturally, my Grilled Pimento Jerk Chicken recipe, below, uses generous quantities of aromatic pimento, allspice.

This recipe was inspired by my fellow food blogger, Janée at Revel & Feast. Janée is one of the best and most creative home cooks online and, like me, a Caribbean food lover.

Like all great cooks, Janée improvises in the kitchen. She never makes the same jerk chicken dry rub twice. So when I asked her for a jerk dry rub recipe, she pointed me to recipezaar.com but encouraged me to adapt freely.

Janée “always, always, always” includes thyme and allspice in her jerk rub recipes “because that’s the flavor combination that says ‘Jamaican jerk’ to me.”

For the following dry rub, I played with proportions and added a few fresh ingredients. The combination is fiery. For less heat, reduce cayenne and cut back or eliminate Scotch Bonnet or jalapeño pepper.

Just don’t leave out the thyme and allspice.

By the way, the Pimento Grilled Jerk Chicken in the photo, above, isn’t burned. The blackened crust comes from the recipe’s spice rub.

For additional smoky pimento flavor, we sprinkled whole allspice berries over coals before putting chicken on the grill. My foodie college-age son has an elaborate grilling method. He starts with the grill close to the coals to sear the chicken. Then he raises the grill to slow-smoke the chicken until done.

If you have a special grilling technique, please reveal it in my comments section!

Grilled Pimento Jerk Chicken

1 tablespoon allspice
2 teaspoons ground thyme
1 tablespoon Demerara or brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 Scotch Bonnet or jalapeño pepper, seeded, deveined and minced
2 tablespoons fresh marjoram or thyme, chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 grassfed chicken, cut into pieces
1/4 cup dried whole allspice

1. In a small bowl mix dried spices, sugar, minced Scotch Bonnet or jalapeño pepper, fresh marjoram or thyme, grated ginger and salt and black pepper.
2. Place chicken pieces in a glass storage container. Dump spice mixture over them and rub mixture into chicken pieces.





3. Cover chicken and refrigerate overnight or for at least a few hours.
4. When ready, prepare coals. Just before placing chicken on grill, sprinkle coals with 1/8 cup whole allspice berries. Grill chicken on one side.




5. Remove chicken to platter, sprinkle coals with remaining allspice berries. Grill other side of chicken.

Serves 6.