Jamaican homestyle food now on the menu in Owensboro, Ky. restaurant

OWENSBORO, Ky. – In Jamaica, a “yard” is your house or home.

To Jamaicans living in the United States, the word can also refer to their home country. So, the name of Jamaican Yard Vibes restaurant in Owensboro means it’s a place to go for homestyle, traditional Jamaican food.

Owner Dwayne Whyte is from Jamaica and enjoys bringing his country’s specialties to the locals. It’s a family business, with his with Shanetha Whyte and stepson Marui Howard manning the front of the house.

The menu concentrates on a handful of classic dishes that are available every day. These include jerk chicken, jerk pork, curry chicken, oxtails and homestyle sides, and is fleshed out with whatever other specialties the Whyte feels like cooking that day.

Jamaican cuisine

Jamaican food is a blend of local products and ages-old cooking techniques of the Caribbean Islands, added to and expanded by cooks of African, European, Indian and Chinese descent who have lived and worked on the island.

Here are some of the dishes offered by Jamaican Yard Vibes.

More: Evansville-area food news: 8 bites of food news for you this week

Entrees

Patties – Patties are the Jamaican version of an empanada. They’re a little flatter and made with an orange, turmeric-colored pastry folded into a half-moon shape. The filling could be chicken or beef, ground finely and knapped in a spicy curry-like sauce.

Jerk - Jerk is both a seasoning and cooking technique. Jerk spice may be a dry rub, a paste, or a marinade, but it is always based on allspice (Jamaicans call it “pimento”), thyme, scallion, and scotch bonnet peppers. Cooks add their individual twists on this mix. Sometimes there is a separate jerk sauce on the side. At Jamaican Yard Vibes, Whyte makes his own dry rub and permits the meat to soak it in for at least 24 hours.

Jerk is cooked slowly over a smoky fire until it is imbued with both he flavors of the marinade and the scent of smoke. Then it is served with jerk sauce on the meat or on the side. Jerk chicken and jerk pork are on the menu every day, and jerk ribs are added as a special.

Curry – Of East Indian influence, Jamaican curry is different in that it uses a larger proportion of turmeric and is often fired up with scotch bonnet chili and a pinch of allspice. The most popular meats to curry are chicken and goat, sometimes with coconut milk added. If you’re there on a day curry goat is available (usually Friday), grab it. The goat is sourced near Louisville and the dish couldn’t be more true to Jamaica.

Brown Stew – While not as spice-laden as Jerk and Curry, brown stew meats still contain plenty of flavor in a rich brown-red gravy. You’ll occasionally find Brown Stew Chicken, made with dark meat, at Jamaican Yard Vibes. The daily offering of ox tails is cooked in a similar manner, with a velvety rich sauce that is deep brownish red with a touch of spice and tomato.

Oxtails - Oxtails are a simple dish of literal cow tails cooked slowly in a brown gravy seasoned with light spice. Once, oxtails were inexpensive, but these days, with acknowledgement of the deliciousness of this bit and the fact that a thousand-pound steer only has one small tail, the meat has become quite expensive.

Red Snapper – These fish are prepared to order and can take 1½ hours to finish, so calling ahead is a good idea. A red snapper can be cooked in a variety of ways including fried, curried, brown stew, jerk, and escovitch. We recommend trying escovitch if you have not had it before.

It’s a version of the French escabeche technique, in which fish are fried in a light coating, then doused in a vinegar-based mixture of pickled veggies and flavorings. The combination of light white seafood, crunchy fried coating and tasty tangy marinade is a symphony. It’s all done to order at Jamaican Yard Vibes so everything is very fresh and not soggy.

Sides

Rice and red beans - Called “rice and peas” in Jamaica, this is the classic side dish for most Jamaican meals. It consists of white rice and red beans cooked in a mixture of coconut milk and special flavorings.

Cabbage, Jamaican style -Cabbage cut in long ribbons, slowly steamed with mild seasonings and a few additional vegetables. This dish is very tender and flavorful with long cooking.

Festivals – a lightly sweetened wheat bread scented with cinnamon that is fried for a crisp exterior. Think of a cross between fried biscuits and beignets.

Coco bread – a mini loaf of lightly sweet bread made with coconut milk, served with Jamaican brand Tastee Cheese.

Roti – A flatbread of Indian origin, which is often enriched with coconut milk in Jamaica. If you like pita bread or naan, you’ll like roti.

Desserts - These include homemade rum bundt cake,  packaged Shirley biscuits (like a shortbread cookie) banana and plantain chips.

Lunch Specials

Lunch specials from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. include jerk chicken, jerk pork, curry chicken and brown stew chicken when it’s on the specials menu. They are served with rice with red beans and cabbage. It’s a quick way to grab a to-go lunch.

Catering is offered as well, and a full catering menu will be ready in time for holiday booking.

Jamaican Yard Vibes

• Location: 2845 W. Parrish Ave. Suite C, Owensboro, Ky.

• Phone: 270-240-3088

• Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

• Website: facebook.com/JamaicanYardVibes

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Jamaican Yard Vibes ' brings Jamaican home cooking to Owensboro