Jamaican Food Recipes
Escoveitched Fish

There are many easy Jamaican Food Recipes just waiting for you to try them out. This page will teach you how to make a traditional Jamaican favourite, Escoveitched Fish.

At the end of the page there are links taking you to other great Jamaican recipes, like Festival, and Johnny cakes.

I used to think "escoveitch" was a strange word (sounds German), given that the dish has Spanish roots. It was introduced into Jamaica in the 16th century, during the time of Spanish settlement of the island.

What I didn't know was that the original Spanish word was "escabeche", meaning pickled. The English anglicised it, and we have further Jamaicanised it to "scobeech".

In a time when no one had electricity, it was a dish that could be prepared beforehand and left for a day or more without spoiling.

Just about any type of fish can be used - it's fried and then covered with a spicy escoveitch sauce which preserves it. We'll eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Fish is especially popular during Lent, and on Good Friday in particular.

Beware, this dish is spicy!

Escoveitched Fish

2 lbs fresh fish, whole or sliced
1/4 cup flour, with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper added
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed pimento (allspice) grains
Oil for deep frying

Escoveitch Sauce

1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 large/2 medium onions, sliced into rings
1 carrot, sliced into strips
1 chocho, peeled and cut into strips (substitute sweet pepper or more carrot if chocho not available)
4 whole pimento grains
Hot pepper to taste

Make diagonal slashes in fish. Mix together the salt, black pepper and crushed pimento. Place a little of this mixture inside each slash.

If using whole fish, rub the mixture inside the fish itself. If using sliced fish, rub the mixture over each slice.

Dust the fish with the seasoned flour, and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Set aside.

Place all the ingredients for the escoveitch sauce in a pot, and bring to a boil. Boil for about half a minute. Don't boil too long or vegetables will lose their crunch. Pour the sauce over the fish.

There is no need to refrigerate if the fish is going to be eaten by the next day. Very convenient if your fridge is full!

Eat with bammy, festival, Johnny cakes or bread.

Here are some other Jamaican food recipes:

Ackee and Saltfish Recipe 
Jamaican Rice and Peas Recipe 
Jamaican Curry Chicken Recipe 
Jamaican Rum Punch Recipe 
Jamaican Rum Cake (Fruit Cake) Recipe 
Jamaican Bread Pudding, Jamaican Banana Bread Recipes 
Jamaican Easter Bun Recipe 
Traditional Jamaican Desserts - Blue Drawers and Toto

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