I don’t mean to brag, but my husband has few gripes about his wife. But there is one area where I need constant improvement, and that’s the output of authentic homemade Jamaican meals. Anyone who has made a full Jamaican meal understands that it’s slow cooking, and in this fast-paced American life, staying close to a pot for 3-4 hours a day is often out of the question.

Anyway, we were entertaining one of my favorite people, a younger cousin. Years ago. She brought her husband and two young kids over, who played with our daughter. I decided to try making escovitched fish. Most of the time, it’s a medium-sized fish like porgy or snapper (any fish that’s good for deep frying) that’s fried and then pickled under a flavorful marinade of peppers, onions, spices and a malt vinegar.  

Jamaican cooking is slow cooking, so sometimes I plan whole days around my meals. I had to find a way to make a tasty escovitched fish, while adhering to a demanding work, commuting and volunteering schedule. This is in no way supposed to be a cooking-channel post. (I kept forgetting to take pictures as I went. But it came out tasty, and people liked it. Here is how I got by:

These were big snappers, pretty much what they had at the market. So I cut it into manageable pieces, dried it, seasoned it with some salt, pepper and Old Bay, then breaded and fried the pieces in two batches.

This seemed to turn out well. No complaints, so I may need to revisit it soon.