Jamaican cuisine is representative of all the races and cultures who have called the island nation home. Some of the dishes we all know today, such as curried goat, jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish, and Jamaican patties were created in Jamaica from ingredients imported to the island by those who arrived from Asia, Africa, and former colonizer England. Jamaicans brought their cuisine to North America beginning in the 1960s. Here are some popular dishes served in Jamaica and how they became famous there:

From Africa, dishes such as callaloo were perfected in Jamaica from a recipe slaves brought over from Angola, and the ackee fruit was brought to Jamaica by slaves who were brought over from Ghana. Scotch bonnet peppers, now ubiquitous in Jamaica, were also brought over from West Africa, as were the cooking and seasoning techniques for the famous jerk chicken (second picture).

From Europe, there were a number of cultural influences. The Spanish were the first to arrive and they brought with them escovitch fish, based on the popular Spanish dish escabeche. The Cornish were among the first English immigrants to Jamaica and they brought with them their famous Cornish pasties, which eventually became the Jamaican patties we all know and love.

From Asia, a number of spices and ingredients came to Jamaica from trading posts as far away as China and India. After slavery was abolished in Jamaica, people from China and India were brought to Jamaica to work the fields in the slaves' places. They brought dishes such as sweet and sour duck, chop suey (which was Jamaicanized with the addition of scotch bonnet peppers), roti, and curried goat.

Must-Savor Specialties: Callaloo, ackee (with or without saltfish), jerk chicken, scotch bonnet peppers, escovitch fish, Jamaican patties, sweet and sour duck, Jamaican chop suey, roti, curried goat

Montego Bay

Montego Bay might have more regional variation on Jamaican cuisine than any other city in the country. Montego Bay is well-known for its ackee fruits (also called breadfruits), and ackee can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch and dinner here. You will find that the ackee, as cooked for breakfast (pictured), will taste a lot like eggs, and may replace eggs in the meal. Other fun fruits you can try in Montego Bay are the oranic (a cross-breed between an orange and a tangerine) and the ugly (a cross-breed with a tangerine and a grapefruit).

Montego Bay claims to have the best jerk chicken in Jamaica and the entire world, and it's up to you to decide whether that is a strong claim. (We think it is!) Montego Bay is also a great place to enjoy seafood, from shrimp to lobster, much of it cooked Jamaican-style (spicy). To try some delicious Jamaican cuisine, make sure you have a meal at one of these popular restaurants: The Day-O Plantation (Lot One at Fairfield Road), inside a former sugar plantation weigh station; the Calabash (inside the Calabash Resorts at 5 The Queens Drive), a Montego Bay institution, which prides itself on using local ingredients; and Belfield 1794 (Barnett Estate, Granville Main Road), where you can try all types of Jamaican dishes, from the common to the unique.

Must-Savor Specialties: ackee (breadfruit), oranic, ugly, jerk chicken, seafood such as shrimp and lobster, washed down with delicious Jamaican tea

Negril

Negril is considered one of the best places in Jamaica to enjoy a number of popular Jamaican dishes, such as curried goat (and also curried chicken), brown stew chicken or fish (pictured), dried and salted red snapper, and the aforementioned escovitch fish, brought over from Spain. For brown stew, we recommend going to Sips & Bites (West End Road, near The SOV Resorts and The Oasis Resort); for escovitch, you should try Sweet Spice Restaurant (1 White Hall Road); and for curried goat or chicken, you can't go wrong with a nice lunch or dinner at Chicken Lavish (West End Road near Jamaica Tigress Lane).

Must-Savor Specialties: curried goat and curried chicken, brown stew fish or chicken, red snapper (salted and dried), escovitch fish

Ocho Rios

In Ocho Rios, you should definitely take some time to try delicious Jamaican patties (pictured), a twist on roti that includes jerk chicken, lobster cooked in rundown sauce (which consists of a coconut cream base and curry spices), and pepper pot soup, which despite its name is not particularly hot (at least not compared to other Jamaican foods). We can't talk about food in Ocho Rios without talking about its specialty: Oxtails, cooked in special spices that the city is renowned for, and served with rice and vegetables. Hands-down the best place for oxtails in Ocho Rios is Miss T's Kitchen (65 Main Street).

Must-Savor Specialties: Jamaican patties, jerk chicken roti, lobster in rundown sauce, pepper pot soup, oxtails with rice (Ocho Rios-style), washed down with a Red Stripe beer

Runaway Bay

Runaway Bay is one of the most popular food hubs of the northern coast; Discovery Bay just to the west has a few restaurants but not nearly the same amount as in Runaway Bay. Milestone Restaurant on Main Street prides itself on its curried goat (pictured), which gets rave reviews from visitors. Going in the direction of Discovery Bay, you will find Sharkies Seafood Restaurant, which is the most popular restaurant in town and serves such delicacies as curried conch and octopus, and lobster six different ways.

Must-Savor Specialties: Curried goat and chicken, curried conch and octopus, lobster