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Easter in Jamaica Must Have Bun & Cheese and Fish

What would Easter be in Jamaica with out the traditions of bun and cheese and fish, usually escoveitched, especially over the long Easter Weekend?

Bun came to our culture from the English who used to make hot cross buns for the poor. Today in Jamaica, we have a variation on the spicy hot cross buns and giving buns as gifts and treats to the less fortunate is still practised.

Bakery-made yeast buns are in abundance in supermarkets and other retail outlets. Homemade buns have become very popular and it has provided income for baking enthusiasts. Culinary Expert, Dr. Heather Little-White has been creating waves in making homemade buns with the introduction of new flavours utilizing local products like sweet potato, yam, coconut, ginger, green banana and carrot.

In addition, the buns are made with very little sugar to suit the palates of the diabetics and weight-conscious. Jamaica ‘tin cheese’ with its salty taste has become a standard accompaniment for sweet Easter buns. ‘Tin Cheese’ is truly Jamaican because of its unique taste and is exported to Jamaican populations around the world.

It is a great gift to send abroad to friends and family overseas.

Fish, the other culinary treat for Easter, is still popular today because of the Christian tradition of fasting from meat during the forty days of Lent. Moreso, meat was associated with rich, lavish eating and fish was seen as poor people’s food so in the spirit of humility meat was given up and fish eaten instead.

Bun and fish are long-standing Easter treats to the extent that in Old Harbour, Jamaica, fish is eaten with bun instead of hard-dough bread. Easter would not be the same without bun and fish in any form.

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