Jamaica Culinary Tours

Jamaica Culinary Tours Jamaica Culinary Tours takes you on a sensational culinary adventure into the heart and belly of Jam Learn the stories behind the food and culinary traditions.

We are passionate about sharing information about Jamaican food and beverage with visitors to Jamaica and Jamaicans living overseas. We share news stories, events and the history and culture of Jamaican food and beverage. Learn about how Jamaica's diverse heritage influenced and continues to influence us and how we have moved from mere consumers to producers. Keep updated on our culinary tours including the Falmouth Food Tour

There's a quiet truth in Jamaica that doesn't get said enough: some of our best cooks are men.Maybe it's Daddy at the gr...
21/06/2026

There's a quiet truth in Jamaica that doesn't get said enough: some of our best cooks are men.

Maybe it's Daddy at the grill, taking his chicken turning very seriously. Maybe it's Uncle Fitzroy with his secret jerk seasoning he'll never quite share the full recipe for. Maybe it's Grandpa, who could stretch one chicken into a Sunday dinner for fifteen people and somehow still send everybody home with a plate.

Jamaican fathers have always cooked — not because anyone taught them with a textbook, but because they were standing close enough, long enough, to absorb it. That's how it's passed down here. Not lessons. Just presence.

Today, on Father's Day, we want to celebrate that quiet, delicious legacy. To every father who has ever fed his family with his hands and his heart — thank you.

Happy Father's Day, from all of us at Jamaica Culinary Tours. 🇯🇲

In Jamaica it is ALWAYS Tea Time! Yes, we inherited tea from the British. Three hundred years of colonisation will do ...
18/06/2026

In Jamaica it is ALWAYS Tea Time!

Yes, we inherited tea from the British. Three hundred years of colonisation will do that. But Jamaica, being Jamaica, took the concept and made it entirely our own.

We do drink regular tea — but the real magic happens in the back garden.

Every Jamaican child of a certain age knows the experience. You're feeling poorly. Grandma disappears outside. She returns with a handful of something — leaves, stems, maybe a bit of root — and the next thing you know there's a steaming cup in front of you and a voice that brooks absolutely no argument: "Drink this."
No diagnosis. No explanation. Just authority, love, and bush tea.

🌿 Cerasee — bitter as heartbreak, but Grandma swore it cleaned your blood

🌿 Fever Grass — one cup and you were sweating out whatever ailed you

🌿 Leaf of Life — the name says everything

🌿 Guinea Hen W**d — for when Cerasee wasn't strong enough

The catch? These teas are seriously bitter. Which is why there was always a system: you drank the remedy, and before you could even make a face, an elder was right there with a "likkle sweetie" — a spoonful of sugar or a piece of candy — to "sweet up" your mouth. The bitterness was the medicine. The sweetie was the reward for surviving it.

Did they work? Well. Scientists around the world are now actively researching Cerasee, Guinea Hen W**d, Fever Grass and Leaf of Life for everything from anti-inflammatory properties to blood sugar regulation. And somewhere, in every Jamaican household, a grandmother is looking at that research and saying:
"Mi know that already."

Learn more about our traditions on the Roots and Routes Tour and who knows perhaps you may even taste some.

For Jamaicans - what are your bush/herbal tea memories?

We're wrapping up the week with a fruit that's not as exotic as lychee or mango, but one that played a huge role in shap...
12/06/2026

We're wrapping up the week with a fruit that's not as exotic as lychee or mango, but one that played a huge role in shaping Jamaica's history — the humble banana. 🍌

Bananas grow all across the island, but they're most prolific in St. Mary and Portland — though sadly, those lush parishes are also frequently hit hardest by storms and hurricanes, and the fragile plants can be wiped out for months at a time.

Here's the tourism connection: once banana cultivation took off in the late 1800s, the fruit was shipped to Britain on the aptly named "banana boats." Those same ships brought some of Jamaica's earliest visitors — which is why many say tourism in Jamaica truly began in Portland. In fact, Port Antonio became a fashionable destination for wealthy travellers, drawn by the same lush scenery that still makes the parish so beautiful today.

If you haven't been, put Portland on your list — waterfalls, rivers, and some of the greenest hills on the island are waiting for you.

It's the weekend, so we're sharing a recipe using bananas. Let us know if you try it!

🍈 The Chinese Guinep — Jamaica's Most Exciting Seasonal SecretWe just finished our three-part mango series and we are no...
10/06/2026

🍈 The Chinese Guinep — Jamaica's Most Exciting Seasonal Secret

We just finished our three-part mango series and we are not done talking about fruit. Because lychee season is upon us and this little gem deserves its moment.

Here is something that will surprise you: Jamaica was actually the first place in the Western world to receive the lychee — all the way back in 1775. That's right. Before Florida. Before California. Before anywhere else in the West — it came here first.

And how did it get here? It was Chinese immigrants who brought lychee trees to Jamaica in the 18th century — part of the wave of Chinese community members who came and wove themselves so completely into Jamaican life that we gave their fruit a Jamaican name. We call it the Chinese Guinep — and if you've ever eaten both, you understand why. Same juicy, pull-it-apart energy. Very different flavour.

Meanwhile the lychee itself has quite the backstory. Historical records trace its cultivation to 200 BC in southern China, and during the Tang dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong loved it so much that he established a horse-relay system to rush fresh lychees from southern China to the imperial court — an ancient version of same-day delivery, all for a fruit. We respect that commitment entirely.

Lychee season in Jamaica runs from May to July — which means we are right in it. And if you know, you know. The anticipation. The roadside vendors. The race to get them before they're gone. We were passing a vendor with bags on sale and we literally stopped traffic to grab a bag of exorbitantly priced lychee! No one honked their horns so maybe they understood :)

So why are they expensive and sometimes hard to find? Lychee trees are slow growers and notoriously particular about their conditions — they need exactly the right combination of cool dry spells and warm humid weather to fruit well. They don't mass-produce on command. Every lychee you eat is the result of a tree that took its time and did things on its own terms. Very Jamaican, when you think about it.

If you spot them this season — buy them. Eat them immediately. Share them with someone you like (or don't — we won't judge). And take a moment to appreciate that this fruit made Jamaica its first Western home 250 years ago and never really left.

Have you had your lychees yet this season? Drop a 🍈 in the comments if you're a fan!

07/06/2026

We promised to tell you some of the creative names that Jamaicans have for our beloved mango so here goes. And by the way we have just brushed the surface - look in the comments for an article that will share even more mango varieties. So bottom line - put some respect on the mango! It is one of our favourite fruits. If you're in Jamaica in mango season plan to taste as many as possible!

06/06/2026

Now you know HOW to eat a mango it is time to learn about the different types of mango so you can ask with authority - "You have any Julie? " or "How you sell the East Indian?" Have a listen....

Mango season is here
04/06/2026

Mango season is here

Have you had Jamaican bammy? It is a delicious cassava bread that we use as a side for many of our meals. Make sure...
02/06/2026

Have you had Jamaican bammy? It is a delicious cassava bread that we use as a side for many of our meals. Make sure to try it if you haven't done so yet.

Here are some fun facts about this delicious side dish

🌿 Cassava (also called yuca) contains natural cyanide — the pressing process removes it. The Taíno knew this long before food science did.
🌿 It was once considered "poor people food." Today it appears on menus across the Caribbean and in Jamaican diaspora restaurants from London to Toronto.
🌿 Bammy pairs traditionally with fried fish — a combination so iconic it has its own cultural moment: the Friday fish fry.
🌿 In 1993, the Jamaican government actually launched a campaign to revive bammy production as a local industry. Cassava farmers in St. Elizabeth were central to that effort.

Jamaica's food is never just food. Every dish carries a story of survival, adaptation and pride.

What's your bammy memory? Drop it below. 👇

31/05/2026

Wrapping up our discussion of the values that we put into our Jamaica Culinary Tours. As we would say in Jamaica 'it is not a buck up'. Every partner and every stop is planned with those values in mind and that means lots of behind the scenes work to get what and who we want.

It's hard work but we love it because we love Jamaica and we want to give you an experience that will make you love it too.

Join us on our tour and stay tuned for our newest project

Address

Priory
Kingston
00000

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 18:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 18:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 18:00
Thursday 09:00 - 18:00
Friday 09:00 - 18:00

Telephone

+18765861817

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