Jamaican Family Tradition: Eating Patties

When my Nigerian mother married my Jamaican father, he introduced her to a lot of the traditions that take place in Jamaica and by jamaicans in many cities like Toronto and Brampton which was the city I grew up in. One of those traditions is commonly Jamaican patties. Patties are pastries that can be filled with things like vegetables, chicken but mainly beef or spiced beef. Jamaican patties are something that every caribbean has had. Depending on where you buy them, you can get them fresh or frozen and then place them in the oven. I remember as a child, my sister and I went to a party across the street from me and that was the first time I had homemade Jamaican beef patties. They were delicious. Ever since then, I have been in love with them.  In the past I would buy them from Jamaican restaurants or the supermarket. These days I eat them homemade.

When I was in grade 4 to grade 8, I lived in a neighbourhood where there was a good community of West Indians and more specifically, Jamaicans.  One of my closest friends in grade school was Jamaican.  I remember visiting his home and the smells of the food seeping all over the house was amazing.  A smell quite foreign to me but I was fortunate to have been able to try some of the food my friend was brought up on and as I often say…  I’ve never met a mom who didn’t love feeding me.  One other benefit I had living where I did was that there was a Jamaican pastry shop and a place to get jerk chicken.  Yes… I was a very fortunate kid.

Whenever I travel for any extended period of time outside of Canada, I have two major cravings that I need to remedy when I return home:  Mom’s food and Jamaican patties.  I really don’t know why but it has been a tradition of mine that whenever I arrive home after a long trip, I find myself digging into Jamaican delights and there is something about the savoury flavours of Jamaican patties that feeds my soul.

Works Cited

• Siddiqi, Kamran. "Jamaican Beef Patties." Sophisticated Gourmet, 14 June 2010,
      www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2010/06/jamaican-beef-patties/. Accessed 15
      Jan. 2018.