Jerk Recipe

It tends to be tangy and spicy - the distinctive looking scotch bonnet chillies are rated fairly high on the Scoville Scale.

It does contain a few fresh ingredients, like garlic, ginger and chillies, which make it not so dry. In fact, this recipe has more in common with certain marinade recipes than a barbeque rub for meat or fish.

But, for a dry version, leave out the last two ingredients for the time being and swap fresh garlic, ginger and chillies for the dried equivalent. Store the rub in a jar or whatever - and mix it with oil and lime juice when you come to use it.

This version will keep for a couple of weeks if it's refrigerated. Or make the dry version I mentioned above and it will keep forever, practically.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh thyme, strip leaves off

• 2 Cinnamon sticks, roughly crushed

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

• 1 tsp Coriander seeds, crushed

• 2 tbsp Black peppercorns, crushed

• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

• 3 tsp Whole allspice

• 6 garlic cloves

• 4 Scotch Bonnet chillies, seeds removed

• 2 tsp chopped/grated fresh ginger

• 2 limes, zest of 1 lime, juice of 2

• 1/2 cup/130ml/¼ pint olive oil

Method

Place your meat in a shallow dish, pour the marinade over and mix it round a bit. It can stand for an hour or two.

The dry version can be mixed with oil and brushed or massaged onto meat. Which can go straight on the grill or marinade for a while.

Amazon is a great place to buy hard to find herbs and spices