Crab Time!

[evanovitch]

<span style="font-style: italic">Welcome to our new series on Jamaica's roadside 'chefs'</span>. And what better place to start than almost in our backyard, just up the road from our North Street headquarters at Heroes Circle. <span style="font-style: italic">Each week, for the next few months, we will take you across the island for a reintroduction to the many cookshops that provide authentic local fare for hungry travellers. </span>

About six to seven stalls line the sidewalk which sits west of <span style="font-weight: bold">Heroes Circle</span>, populated by pots constantly on coal stoves and crabs and corns out on display. <span style="font-weight: bold">This is crab ground, the unofficial name given to the place in Central Kingston known to many for its year-long supply of crabs and corn on the cob.</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">This little spot has been in existence for many decades </span>and has been more of a convenient stop for mostly motorists. During a visit to the area, we saw people from all walks of life; the 'walk foot' and the mobile ones travelling in various models of vehicles and even on motorbikes, stop to get a taste of what crab ground had to offer. Many of the persons who stopped opted to sample either the roasted or boiled corn.


Marsha Walker has been selling at the spot for about eight years along with her sister Makeisha 'Munchie' Walker. She grew up on the earnings made by her parents who made a living by selling at that very spot. She has now taken over with her own stall specialising in roasted and boiled corn and cook-down saltfish with roasted yams. Her sister sells boiled crabs next to her.

Each vendor on the stretch has her own regular customers or takes advantage of the new ones who walk or drive up to the stalls. They are all comfortable in their own space, not trying to aggressively compete with each other for a sale.

Walker says Thursdays and Fridays are the busiest days on the stretch, and people from all walks of life, including well-known personalities in Jamaica support the businesses. &quot;We get very busy, mostly on a Thursday and Friday. People from all over come here and buy, even entertainers and politicians stop here. It is not only one type of people at all who come here.&quot; Even though there are good days and the not-so-good days, vendors are out every day except Sundays and can be seen out as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 7:30 in the evenings.


To keep the items warm, they are kept on burning coal, ready to be served in true crab-ground style. So, if you feel like having roasted or boiled corn or some roasted yam with saltfish, you can definitely make a trip to crab ground and make your pick, whether it be in the day or evening. And, if you have a craving for crab but you think it is out of season, just make your way to crab ground because it is never out of season there.

&quot;We get our crabs from the Coronation Market, downtown Kingston. There are sellers who catch crabs in the country, from parishes like Portland, and then supply us. We are never out,&quot; said Walker.

[email protected].

[Magician]

Re: Crab Time!

I going research into the matta when mi go Town next month!

[Stormmey]

Re: Crab Time!

I have had the crabs from that Lady when I went to Kingstown and it was yummy, remember her telling me Miss hole on pon yu bag.

[evanovitch]

Re: Crab Time!

mi use fi fo deh fi roach yellow yam an roast saltfish....memories indeed...an go dance a di housing complex weh off di circle pon di right....wikked dance dem too ...mi use fi tink seh mi did a mix een till one nite smaddy touch me an seh di baas want a wud wid me...an di baaas tell mi seh him spread di wud seh mi unda him protection so dat is why mi cudda did deh a dem dance deh wid no problem..ah sah..yaad...u haffi love it

[Wahalla]

Re: Crab Time!

taino tradtions that persisted to my youth was that it was seasonal and that it was bad to eat out of season....Still it goes to show lets eat crabs all year round....forget the minor issue of sustainabily.. this is now our tradition...

[julie*mango]

Re: Crab Time!

mi mout a watah long time mi nuh eat a road crab

[MsExced]

Re: Crab Time!

Wow memories I tell you, had those crab every weekend when I lived in Allman Town many moons ago. Even when we moved to Portmore we came over for the crabs and corn.

Will be visiting them in July

[evanovitch]

ROADSIDE CHEFS - Living healthy all day long at Howie's



<span style="font-weight: bold">&quot;Just look out for the shop with the whole heap of pots&quot;, was all the direction</span> the Food team received as we approached Middle Quarters in St Elizabeth in search of this week's Roadside chef, Rudolph Salmon, of Howie's Healthy Living Shop. Once we spotted over 14 metal pots bubbling over wood fires, there was no doubt that we had arrived.

The pots of various shapes sit on wood (substituted for coal), and cannot be missed. They are used to create the breakfast, lunch and dinner specials at the 24-hour roadside restaurant. Yes, it is open 24 hours, and, according to owner Rudolph Salmon, this is made possible by his staff of 16, with three working the night shift.

<span style="font-weight: bold">The Idea</span>

Salmon, who grew up in the Middle Quarters area, says the establishment has been in operation for over three years, after he got the idea while driving in St Ann. &quot;Is drive I was driving in St Ann and I see this food place with whole heap of people swarming it and I think to myself say that a food place would do well here in Middle Quarters.&quot;

Today, with few changes to the original building, Salmon says he is patronised by customers &quot;from all over. Tourists stop here when they visit places like YS Falls; then you have passers-by who just decide to stop here. I want to tell you that people all leave from Kingston just to come to Howie's&quot;, boasted the entrepreneur.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Variety</span>

For breakfast, the options include porridge, stewed chicken, pickled mackerel, ackee and saltfish and liver. &quot;People who want to economise order two festivals with a cup of porridge. People love the peanut porridge and another favourite is the ackee and saltfish,&quot; noted the owner. For lunch and dinner, seafood, conch soup, jerked chicken, and fried chicken are big hits. &quot;Everything deh round here man, except probably pork&quot;, said Salmon.

For a refreshing drink, customers can opt for natural juices made by Salmon. &quot;I make the drinks. I used to do some cooking, too, but now I focus on making the juices. We have carrot, beet, soursop, pumpkin, guava and breadfruit juice right here. As long as the fruits are in season, we will have the drinks.&quot;

<span style="font-weight: bold">Vegetarian</span>

There are also special items for vegetarians. &quot;People start eat all more health conscious now, so we have to include vegetables on our menu like pak choi and callaloo,&quot; noted Salmon.

Customers also have the choice of dining at the establishment, as there is a section of the building set up for that purpose. In the near future, there will be a bar.

<span style="font-weight: bold">But what if everything isn't sold? &quot;Wah, we don't believe in serving no leftover food right here enuh. We have whole heap of pans to put leftovers to take away. Nuff hog pan deh bout man,&quot; </span>replied an emphatic Salmon.

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[evanovitch]

Taxi man stop - Serving up scrumptious Jamaican meals



It has no official name but Baldwin Rodney, <span style="font-weight: bold">owner of the food stall located just across from the National Stadium in Kingston says he prefers to call it the 'Taxi-man stop'</span>. Situated on a dirt track, the stall has the support of taxi drivers as well as passersby who just want a quick food fix. &quot;This was really set up because of the taxi drivers enuh, they come here and have something to eat and cool out. They really encourage this thing and also the people who driving and see the set-up, just come check it out&quot;, said the owner.

<span style="font-style: italic">Taking a break</span>

Quite noticeable during the visit to the food shop, were the number of motor vehicles parked in the empty lot in close proximity to the shop. Many of them were taxi drivers just taking a break in their vehicles, as the same dirt track is used as a base for the drivers.

To the front of the makeshift kitchen and counter where all the cooking is done, are two tables with chairs, giving patrons the option of dining on the spot. In the kitchen are pots on coal stoves for preparing the meals for the day. And, no worries about the pelting sun or possible rain as customers are sheltered by a tarpaulin.

With a staff of three men, breakfast and lunch are prepared daily. To prepare the breakfast in time, work begins as early as 5 a.m. &quot;For breakfast we have steamed fish which is a favourite; men love those things, then, you have calalloo, which we have every day, and curried and stewed chicken every other day. We also have ackee and saltfish&quot;.

<span style="font-style: italic">Fried chicken</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">For lunch, fried chicken is the preferred item. &quot;You know, is fried chicken people love, but we offer peppered steak, stewed chicken and curried goat. We have a decent lunch special,&quot; </span>said Rodney. The work-day ends at 4 p.m.

Rodney is not new to running a food joint as he operated one in the Swallowfield community for some time before venturing out to his current location. The establishment was opened in October of last year, which makes it relatively new but so far the owner says it has been going smoothly. &quot;It started off slow but it pick up now. It's been good so far,&quot; said Rodney who had to break from the interview to tend to a customer requesting a lunch special.

[email protected]

[evanovitch]

Bayside in Portmore

They are an organised set no doubt, with even their own appointed spokesperson. And on any given day, you will see them converged on a spot along Bayside in Portmore, selling food items ranging from jerk chicken to soup.

Driving on that stretch, especially on the weekends, can be a task at times, as motorists and pedestrians alike try to manoeuvre through traffic in an attempt to get on the side of the 'food circle'. Set up in a circular display, jerk pans and pots serve as a reflection of what is offered to customers. The smoke coming from the pans occasionally blurs the vision and many eager customers await their turn to make their orders or pick up their meals.

With chairs and tables provided by the vendors, customers are given the choice of eating on spot or just using them while waiting their turn. On our visit, there were a number of people seen dining in a group, enjoying their recent food purchases.

Patrick 'Brown Man' Hayne, the spokesman, said people could get a wide array of food items. &quot;You can get jerk chicken, jerk pork, roast fish and a variety of soup like chicken foot; you can get conch and fish tea&quot;.

Seven days a week


Hayne said that vendors were there every day of the week but the bulk came out over the weekend. There are about six vendors in total. &quot;We come out here seven days a week and most times we start setting up by 5:30 in the evening and then go on till all daylight&quot;.

Seen as an elder, Hayne has been in the business for 16 years, but has been at that spot for three years. And with that wealth of experience, he says business has been going well for him. &quot;I do jerk chicken and I have my customers who come here specifically for me. People all come here and wait for my chicken and some all call and make orders&quot;.

As with every business, each person has his own customers, and the vendors at the food circle are no exception.

For Hayne, it is the seasoning that keeps his customers always wanting more. &quot;They love my method and how I do my seasoning. I stuff my chicken with seasoning, so it's soaked from inside out&quot;.

It is popular with people who live outside the area. &quot;People from all strata of society come here, even as far as Ewarton they leave from and come here to eat&quot;, he said.

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[ohliz]

Re: Bayside in Portmore

I hope you don't mind if I add art

[julie*mango]

Re: Bayside in Portmore

All the years mi use to live in Portmore I don't ever remember stopping to eat in Bayside

[MsExced]

Re: Bayside in Portmore


Skelly because a only Shoppers Fair and one other store was there in our time

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Skelly</div><div class="ubbcode-body">All the years mi use to live in Portmore I don't ever remember stopping to eat in Bayside </div></div>

[julie*mango]

Re: Bayside in Portmore

Yes I do remember the Shoppers Fair so them lick it down and selling out there now? I thought they built a church there..