Thu | Mar 28, 2024

Kingston Curry Festival is back

Published:Thursday | December 1, 2022 | 12:06 AM
Expect Murray’s famous curry goat at the festival.
Expect Murray’s famous curry goat at the festival.
Chicken Doubles: A twist on the Trini Doubles that are usually only vegan, Super Spicy Double’s has them in chicken, goat, fish, shrimp and beef that will be available at the Kingston Curry Festival.
Chicken Doubles: A twist on the Trini Doubles that are usually only vegan, Super Spicy Double’s has them in chicken, goat, fish, shrimp and beef that will be available at the Kingston Curry Festival.
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The Kingston Curry Festival returns to the Hope Zoo, St Andrew, this Saturday.

According to the event organiser, Leighton Davis, managing director of Project2Project Consultants, Kingston Curry Festival is known for its spices and complex flavour pairings. With the use of cardamom, cayenne, tamarind, and other pungent ingredients, the resulting taste combinations are unlike anything else.

“How do you even describe curry? Flavourful, aromatic, rich, creamy, and perhaps spicy come to mind. But while those who are familiar with curry have vague ideas of what it is, curry is such a broad category that encompasses such a diverse array of dishes,” Davis said.

Curry arrived in Jamaica and the rest of the region via East Asian workers who were shipped here by the British, mostly during the 19th century. Asian cooking traditions meshed well with a lot of the West African cuisine already present at the time, and evolved into the modern tastes and flavours we have today.

“The most prolific curry dish is, of course, chicken curry, but Jamaican cuisine isn’t about to restrict you to chicken. The strong flavour profile of curry powder goes perfectly with more flavourful meats, like beef and pork. Goat is one of the most common meats eaten outside the Western World,” he said.

If you are not a meat eater, or you are just looking for something a bit lighter, other great options await in the realm of seafood. Curry fish and curry shrimp make a perfect, flavourful alternative to spicier dishes like jerk shrimp for people who do not get as excited about the Scotch bonnet pepper burn.

Jamaica also has a thriving vegetarian and vegan community, and because of this, every type of food comes with vegetarian varieties. “Vegetarian curries include curry sweet potato, curry ackee, curry tofu, and many others. A good general recipe is curry veggie chunks, which can easily be adapted to a variety of other vegetable ingredients,” Davis said.

Veggie Meals on Wheels will be selling their signature ital dishes, while Pushpa’s Authentic Indian Restaurant is one of the most popular and notable names in Kingston as it relates to food. Super Spicy Doubles as well as Khazana foods will both be selling authentic Indo-Trinidadian dishes, including doubles and pholourie, both of which are street food favourites in the twin-island republic. Reggae chefs will also be doing curry oxtail.

“The excitement is building as vendors and chefs get ready to prepare their signature dishes for patrons. We look forward to entertaining all our guests,” Davis said.