Jamaican patty

A Jamaican patty is a semicircular pastry that contains various fillings and spices baked inside a flaky shell, often tinted golden yellow with an egg yolk mixture or turmeric.[1] It is made like a turnover as it is formed by folding over the circular dough cutout over the chosen filling, but is more savoury and filled with ground meat.[1] As its name suggests, it is commonly found in Jamaica, and is also eaten in other areas of the Caribbean, such as the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica. It is traditionally filled with seasoned ground beef, but fillings can include chicken, pork, lamb, vegetables, shrimp, lobster, fish, soy, ackee, mixed vegetables or cheese. In non-Jamaican-based restaurants' attempt to appeal to certain audiences, the patty has extended its composition to include low-fat, whole wheat crusts.[2] In Jamaica, the patty is often eaten as a full meal, especially when paired with coco bread. It can also be made as bite-sized portions called cocktail patties. Among the Jamaican diaspora in the United Kingdom, the pastry is more like that of a suet crust, and often made with margarine or butter, which provides the flaky pastry, and curry powder containing turmeric, which provides the yellow colour.

Jamaican patty
A plate of Jamaican patties
TypePastry
CourseSnack
Place of originJamaica
Region or stateAmericas
Serving temperatureHot
Handmade beef Jamaican patties

History
Coco bread stuffed with a beef patty

The beef patty is a product of the long history of Jamaica, mixing pasties introduced by Cornish immigrants and cumin, curry and cayenne pepper introduced by Indian indentured labourers and African slaves who arrived to the country.[3] "The firecracker taste of the Scotch bonnet, a hot pepper indigenous to Jamaica, sealed the flavour."[3]

Jamaicans brought recipes for the patties northward in the 1960s and 1970s when many immigrated to the United States as hospital orderlies, home health aides and nurses.[3] The patties were then found in restaurants in areas of the New York metropolitan area with high West Indian populations. The patties are equally popular in British cities with large West Indian populations, such as Birmingham,[4] Manchester and London. Their popularity is spreading in the United Kingdom and they are becoming available in many mainstream outlets.[5][6] They are also popular in Toronto, Montreal, Miami, Washington, D.C., and numerous other areas throughout the American northeast and Canadian Great Lakes regions; in many of those areas, they are available in grocery stores, delis, corner stores, and convenience stores. In recent years, the Jamaican meat patty has been pre-made and frozen for mass selling in Britain,[6] Canada, and the United States. In many areas in Canada and in the United States, Jamaican beef patties are now typically available at pizza and convenience food restaurants, as well as supermarkets.

Litigation in Canada

In February 1985, after discovering the presence of patty vendors in Toronto, especially from Kensington Patty Palace owned by the Davidson family, the Canadian government attempted to ban the name "beef patty" as it did not comply with the Meat Inspection Act's definition of the word "patty."[7] According to the federal government, the patties the Davidsons sold do not qualify with the Meat Inspection Act's technical definition of a patty which,[7] as NOW Magazine's Ramona Leitao stated, described as "meat and seasoning that typically went in a hamburger and couldn’t be enclosed in dough."[8] That month, the government demanded that eight patty vendors, including Kensington Patty Palace which was managed at that time by Michael Davidson, rename the beef patty to a name that distinguishes itself with the patty used for hamburgers or face a CA$ 5,000 fine. This caused the patty vendors to resist giving in to demands and refuse to rename the beef patties.[7] The public were in outrage, and the controversy would be featured in Canadian media and, later on, in Jamaican media.[7] On February 19, 1985, officials from the Consumer and Corporate Affairs and representatives from the patty vendors met; it ended with a compromise to identify such as "Jamaican patty." After the so-called "patty summit," Davidson and Kensington Patty Palace held a celebration in store to culminate the so-called "patty wars" on February 23, 1985.[9]

In a Toronto Star column on February 22, 2012, columnist Royson James unofficially declared February 23 as the Jamaican Patty Day in Toronto.[10] The "patty wars" controversy was the subject of a 2022 CBC documentary entitled "Patty vs. Patty" featuring an interview with Michael Davidson, directed by Chris Strikes, and streamed on CBC Gem.[11][7] The video is now also available on YouTube.[12]

Contemporary usage and commercialization

The Jamaican patty has undergone a shift in its audience over time. Chain food restaurants and brands such as Golden Krust are responsible for the increased popularity of the patty in different countries other than Jamaica, such as the United States.[13] Golden Krusts are primarily prevelant in Caribbean neighborhoods in New York City, but they extend to other states such as Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina.[14] Other companies, such as the Tastee and Juici patty companies capitalized on the commercialization of the patty as well.[13] Presently, patties can be found in non-traditional Jamaican restaurants such as pizzerias and even in public school-provided lunches.[13] In fact, the New York public school system distributed more than three million patties throughout the 2016 fiscal year.[13] Golden Krust patties are served in supermarkets and prisons as well as city schools.[2]

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2015, the President and Chief Executive Lowell Hawthorne stated that he desired to make the patty, among other Jamaican "fast foods," as popular as the burrito within mainstream society by 2020.[2] In its nascent stages, the familial founders of Golden Krust faced struggles as Jamaican families tend to be very secretive about their respective patty recipes.[2] The patties are made by machines and are no longer handmade.[2] This shift in production further represents the commodification and commercialization of the patty as it enters the mainstream sphere.

Preparing patties is a labor intensive process. There are bakeries that sell them fresh as well as grocery stores that sell them frozen.

See also

References
  1. B., Cassidy, F. G. La Page, R. (2009). Dictionary of Jamaican English. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-11840-8. OCLC 759092116.
  2. "Golden Opportunity: Building New York City's Biggest Locally Owned Restaurant Chain".
  3. Garcia, Michelle (February 15, 2005). "For N.Y. Caribbean Beef Patty Co., Business Is Cooking". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  4. "Island Delight - Delicious Caribbean Style Patties and Savoury Slices by Cleone Foods Ltd". Cleone.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  5. Bhanot, Manisha (July 30, 2021). "Why Jamaican patties are such a popular snack food in the UK". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  6. Oduntan, Carly Lewis (January 15, 2018). "How Jamaican Patties Became a Beloved British Snack". Vice. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. "The story of Toronto's bizarre 1985 'patty wars': when the government tried to rename the beef patty". CBC. Canada. February 17, 2022. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  8. Leitao, Ramona (23 February 2022). "Toronto filmmakers pay tribute to the Jamaican patty in new documentary". NOW Toronto. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  9. CBC Docs (17 February 2022). "The story of Toronto's bizarre 1985 'patty wars': when the government tried to rename the beef patty". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  10. James, Royson (22 February 2012). "James: A humble declaration of Jamaican Patty Day". Toronto Star. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  11. Strikes, Chris (17 February 2022). "I grew up on beef patties. I was shocked to find out that the Canadian government tried to rename them in 1985". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  12. Waging war on the Jamaican patty: Canada’s bizarre beef with the delicious snack | Patty vs Patty (Youtube video). CBC Docs. February 17, 2022.
  13. Oliver, Rochelle (2017-05-23). "The Jamaican Beef Patty Extends Its Reach". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  14. "Locations". Golden Krust. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
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