The Best Thing I Ever Ate (in Jamaica)!
The first time I went to Jamaica four years ago, I flew into Kingston. I was lucky to be traveling with someone who was born there; someone who knew his way around and could easily shift to driving on the opposite side of the road with ease.
The entire trip was a learning experience for both of us as a new couple. Early in our relationship, my guy asked me about my favorite band.
“I see you like the Grateful Dead. I never really understood what they are all about.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond so I didn’t say anything. They’re a band beyond description.
Then I saw that the Dark Star Orchestra, a band dedicated to playing the music of the Grateful Dead, was going to headline a five day music festival at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica.
“Hey Patty, I have a great idea! If you show me around Jamaica, I can turn you on to the music of the Grateful Dead and the closest you’ll ever get to being at a Dead show.”
We attended The Jam in the Sand at the Jewel Paradise Cove Beach Resort and Spa in Discovery Bay. Patrick got his fill of watered down rum drinks, overgrown hippies and an earful about the music of the Grateful Dead. He’s now a quasi-fan of the band whose favorite Dead tune is Fire on the Mountain.
As promised, when the the Jam ended, Patrick took me on a tour of his beloved Jamaica. We headed back to Kingston where some of his relatives still live. While there, his father’s gardener offered to cut down a coconut off a tree in his yard and asked if I would like him to cut it open for me. Of course I said yes.
Mind you, the only coconut I had before that was either from a bag in the supermarket, dried and loaded with sugar or the brown, hairy kind from the Grand Union that we struggled to open; first using a screwdriver to get out the coconut water and then a knife to scrape out the thick layer of dried coconut stuck to a brown inedible lining in the shell. It was always so disappointing.
I did not recognize the huge, green outer layer that houses the aforementioned brown hairy coconuts I was used to. Using a machete, the gardener hacked the top off, exposing what Jamaicans refer to as “jelly coconut.” With a spoon, I hesitantly scraped out the gelatinous substance inside, which to my surprise was super delicious. I literally ate as much as I could get out of that coconut and wished I could eat another. It was offered to me, but I politely declined, which I still regret to this day.
I have not had any jelly coconut since that first trip, even though I have been back to Jamaica many times. Like a crack head (honestly, never touched the stuff) I feel like I would be chasing that first high if I actually hunted down more of the jelly coconut, which in my mind is one of the best things I have ever tasted! I’d rather have the sweet memory than to be disappointed.
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