Page 17 - Dreamscapes Magazine | Winter/Spring 2025

PHOTOS: JAMAICA TOURIST BOARD | CYNTHIA DAVID
fresh-cooked blue crab, the queue lengthens at a line of open-
air stalls run by women. Our host, Abigail Logan, began
helping her grandmother boil crab in seasoned broth over a gas
or wood flame from the age of eight. She serves her crab with a
side of chewy corn on the cob and a chunk of fresh coconut,
which we ate at a nearby picnic table.
WHAT’S UP!
During the pandemic, three Kingston friends opened a shoe-
box-sized café on King Street called Waah Gwaan, or What’s
Up! in Jamaican patois. It was an instant hit. We tasted a
tender jerk-spiced chicken breast patty slipped between two
slices of starchy, slightly sweet baked breadfruit. Washed down
with tamarind-ginger juice, it’s a winner.
The tour ended with an iced coffee at Danya’s Coffee Barrel
made with local Blue Mountain coffee. Beans for this world-
famous coffee are grown on small plantations blessed with
rich volcanic soil and plentiful rainfall 900 to 1,800 metres
above sea level. It’s worth the winding 45-minute drive
through dense green jungle to visit Craighton Estate, a
plantation open to the public, and experience the glossy green
TRY JAMAICA’S
FAVOURITE BREAKFAST
Ackee and saltfish may not sound like typical breakfast fare,
but to Jamaicans in the diaspora it’s a taste of home. Ackee
trees with red fruit hanging like Christmas ornaments grow
island-wide. When ripe, the pod splits open like a tulip to
reveal a savoury yellow pulp. In the centre is the black seed.
During the mid-18th century enslaved Africans brought
these with them from West Africa. Meanwhile, the salted
cod, originally from Nova Scotia, must be soaked in several
changes of water to be palatable. Jamaicans sauté the
boiled ackee and fish with hot chillies, garlic, thyme and
green pepper. Served with sliced avocado, fried ripe
plantain, steamed greens and fried dumplings on the side,
the result is delicious. And filling.
WINTER/SPRING 2025 DREAMSCAPES 17