The dutchy or dutch pot is a very common cooking pot in Jamaica growing up in Jamaica I came to appreciate all the good food that my aunt and cousins cooked in them.  No matter what Caribbean Island you’re from the dutchy reigns supreme in the kitchen since its apart of Caribbean culture.  Dutchie’s were first made in someone’s backyard or house under a shanty clad board structure and a zinc roof, with the expertise that was passed down through generations from the sugar plantation slavery days.

            In those days our ancestors didn’t have anything to cook food in so melting metal usually cast iron, molding, and cooling it form a broad oval shape.  Given the poor or tough portions of meats the pot was essential for long cooking to break down the toughness of the meats, it was also essential for broiling, steaming, and frying.  As a child and not knowing the true meaning of the dutchy, I just enjoyed how all the aromas of the herbs and spices plus the foods such as brown stew chicken, curry chicken, curry goat and rice and peas would permeate throughout our little house and the comfort I felt knowing how good the food was going to be.  Seeing multiple courses for one meal get cooked in that pot by all my cousins through the years I too wanted to cook with a dutchy one day for family and friends to relive the nostalgic with a pot. 

– SC

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant