Home-Made Recipe Included Below
I recently found out that when I cook I never taste, measure, nor set a timer so please bear with me, as my husband and I share some new, exciting, and creative Jamaican Dishes with you. So after saying all that, the amount of ingredients is based on the amount of folks you are entertaining. Imagine having fun while staying healthy…the new trend indeed. And yes…my dishes always turn out delicious. Yeah man.
Growing up on Cumberland Road, in Spanish Town, my siblings and I loved to climb over the fence into Miss Amy’s yard for cherries, particularly Acerola also known as Barbados cherries. We would pretend that Miss Amy would come out from amongst the trees, with her frail, small frame and chase us. I sometimes though she did, just to add a little excitement to our adventure. She was such a kind old lady. The thing was we did not need to climb over her fence for cherries, seeing that we had one such tree in our own front yard. The cherries were easy to pick and were very sweet with a flowery flavor and were juicy. The tree seemed to always have cherries on it and another thing I noticed, a cherry will ripen by the end of the day. That amazed me back then, but little did I know how much nutrients one of the cherries have. One Acerola cherry has 65 times more vitamin C than an orange. This is one of the reasons why we never had the flu growing up, because the vitamin C content is about the daily minimum requirement for the body. Below is a list of reasons to plant one of these trees or cook with the cherries and why some companies are using the Acerola cherry in baby food.
Health Benefits; due to such high vitamin C content the cherry can help with the following:
- Boast immune system
- Strengthen Liver
- Assist your body with tissue repair
- Hair loss
- Improve mood, due to high amount of potassium
- Heart
- Blood pressure
- Dental issues
- Infections
- Improve skin
- Relieve headaches
It is also a valuable source of vitamin A and B, calcium, magnesium, folate, phosphorous, and contains antioxidants; carotenoids and flavonoids.
Pick-A-Cherry Tropical Garnish Recipe
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of Acerola or Barbados Cherries
3 berries of Jamaican Pimento
2 tablespoons of Cilantro
4 Cloves of Garlic
½ -1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper (use a green one; very hot pepper; use seed at own risk)
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 Lime
A pinch of salt and black pepper
Preparation:
Chop cilantro
Mince pepper and garlic
Crush cherries in a bowl using a potato masher
Then remove the cherry seeds and stems
Pour off excess juice in a bowl and chop up cherries
Mix all ingredients together…including the juice from the cherries
Add 3 berries of Jamaican pimento to mixture
Do the taste test and add salt and pepper to your liking
This recipe serves three.
Result: 
I must say this was very mouth-watering for me; I kept going back for more. First, I got a rush of cilantro and lime with the flowery taste of the cherries; then I felt the hot pepper tingling the sides of my tongue, and then came the garlic which put a smile on my face. Eating it with corn chips added a sweet after taste, and avocado will create a calming effect if too spicy for some folks. I think this one was a success!
A Plus
Easy to prepare
Can be used in place of tomatoes
Goes very well with rum, beer, and wine
Goes well with steak, pork chops, shrimp, and chips
No cooking involved
Natural ingredients
Excellent source of daily nutrition
Here it is used over grilled steaks:
Here it is used as a dip with corn chips:
Here blended as a juice:
If you need any information on planting a tree please feel free to contact me. We planted a tree and enjoy using the cherries…our miracle tree…it has survived hurricanes and freezes.
Wonders of Jamaica 