Motherland A Jamaican cookbook

Review by Booklist Review

London-based food writer and chef Thompson takes readers on a Jamaican tour with this homage to the influences, culture, and history that make up Jamaican food culture. For readers who want to learn about the relationship between Jamaica and the U.K. or dive into the backstory of jerk seasoning, Thompson does not disappoint. Her well-explained, one-page recipes offer suggested pairings for meal planning and are well organized for easy reading while cooking. Readers familiar with Jamaican cuisine will find all their favorites, including beef patty (and other variations like lamb, chicken, and vegetable), rice and peas, jerk chicken, and ackee and saltfish. But even those new to Jamaican cooking can take comfort with easy and delicious recipes like stamp and go (saltfish fritters); saltfish, butter bean and red pepper stew; and curry chicken. With so much to offer, this will easily become a reader favorite.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Food writer Thompson celebrates her Jamaican heritage in her stellar debut. Inspired by her dad's tales of growing up in Jamaica, England-born Thompson found herself transported through food to a country she had never visited and here offers a rich and deeply satisfying collection of recipes, some of her own creation and others from her family's arsenal, all derived from island ingredients. Among the options are salty and spicy saltfish fritters ("one of the most addictive snacks known to mankind") and ginger beer shrimp, born out of Thompson's love for Japanese tempura and transformed with ginger beer in place of soda water for the batter. Mouthwatering photos bring the recipes to life, notably Thompson's smoky eggplant rundown and macaroni and cheese. Readers will savor the less familiar but equally enticing dishes, including castleton janga soup (a rich seafood stew with shrimp, pumpkin, ginger, and crayfish) and curried goat. Thompson rounds things out with luscious grapefruit cassava cake and coconut mango panna cotta. Her attention to the history behind the food sets these recipes apart; she details major events and lasting influences on the island, ranging from Christopher Columbus and the slave trade to the Rastafarian diet. This abundant immersion into Jamaican culture will whet readers' appetites. (Dec.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Thompson, a British food writer and supper club founder, delivers her debut cookbook, an ode to Jamaica and her family history. On her journey to explore her roots, Thompson details the extensive history of the island and its ties with the trade of enslaved Africans and the colonialism that shaped its foodways and culture. The lush photography is inviting and includes images of delectable dishes and the Caribbean landscape. This true lesson in Jamaican cooking offers classics such as salt fish and a primer on jerk marinades and rubs. Some main ingredients might be less common in some areas of the United States (goat, mutton, fresh seafood) but these recipes are the real deal (even as substitutions are provided). An extensive bibliography and a further reading list help patrons explore more deeply the history of enslavement and colonialism and reflect on the past and present of Jamaica. VERDICT Readers will relish the research and detail Thompson put into her ode to her beloved Jamaica through its food and history.--Sarah Tansley

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