Festival or Jamaican festival is a type of deep-fried

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

, typical of

Jamaican cuisine Jamaican cuisine includes a mixture of cooking techniques, flavours and spices influenced by Amerindian cuisine, Amerindian, Cuisine of West Africa, West African, Irish cuisine, Irish, English cuisine, English, French cuisine, French, Portuguese ...

, Despite its slightly sweet taste, it is served as a side dish with escovitch fish,

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

jerk chicken Jerk, The Jerk, Jerks, or Jerking may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film, stage, and television * ''Jerk'' (play), a 2008 puppet play by Dennis Cooper * ''Jerk'' (TV series), a 2019 British sitcom * ''The Jerk'', a 1979 American film * "Jerk ...

, as well as, a breakfast item and street food.

Overview

''Jamaican festival'' is a Creole dish which originated in Jamaica. While its exact roots are unclear, it is likely to have been created during the colonial era, from a fusion of ingredients and techniques from the different ethnic groups which have inhabited the island. The dish bears similarities to

hushpuppy A hushpuppy is a small, savory, deep-fried round ball made from cornmeal-based batter. Hushpuppies are frequently served as a side dish with seafood and other deep-fried foods. History The use of ground corn in cooking originated with Nati ...

which has Native American and French influences, as well as, ''croquettes de maïs'' (

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

croquettes) from France, ''Spanish / Latin

corn fritter Corn fritters are fried cakes of a dough or batter made of, or containing, a featured quantity of corn kernels. Originating in Native American cuisine, they are a traditional sweet and savory snack in the Americas, the Southern United States, as ...

s'' which also have Native American roots, sorullos from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and Chinese ''fried doughs'' which were introduced to the island by Chinese

indentured labourers Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as payment for some good or serv ...

– like ''Jamaican twist donuts''. ''Festival'' has been commonly consumed at Jamaican festivals and celebrations, particularly during

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. It gained popularity in the 1970s, especially in the

Hellshire Beach Hellshire Beach, Jamaica, is located near Portmore, Jamaica, Portmore, and famed for its fried fish and safe swimming. It has near white sands with a very small trace of black sand. Exposed when there is a sea running to the south, the waters close ...

area, known for seafood.

Preparation

The dough is made with

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

cornmeal Maize meal is a meal (coarse flour) ground from dried maize. It is a common staple food and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but it is not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', Third Editi ...

baking powder Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increas ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

milk powder Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and do ...

/ milk or evaporated milk,

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

and water, which is then fried in vegetable

cooking oil Cooking oil (also known as edible oil) is a plant or animal liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. Oil allows higher cooking temperatures than water, making cooking faster and more flavorful, while likewise distributing h ...

until golden brown, and served hot. The finished ''festival'' should be crispy on the outside, while soft and fluffy on the inside. Traditionally, ''festival'' is served as a side dish with savory meals such as fried fish, escovitch fish, seafood dishes, ''jerk'' pork or ''jerk'' chicken. Its slightly sweet flavor complements the spicy and tangy profiles of these dishes, making it a staple in Jamaican cuisine. ''Festival'' is also eaten as a street food or snack, and it is a popular breakfast side dish often paired with ackee and saltfish. File:Festival (food) 02.jpg, ''Festival frying'' File:Festival (food)01.jpg, ''Festival'' File:Jamaican fish and festival.jpg, ''Jamaican escovitch fish, festivals and plantains''

References

Quick breads Jamaican breads Fried dough Milk dishes {{Jamaica-cuisine-stub

Overview

Preparation

See also

References