Officially English is the spoken language but, in reality, Jamaica is a bilingual country and English is far more widely understood than spoken. The unofficial lingo is patois - a musical dialect with a uniquely Jamaican rhythm and cadence. Patois evolved from the Creole English and a twisted alchemy of the mother tongue peppered with African, Portuguese and Spanish terms, and Rastafarian slang. Jamaica's homegrown cuisine is a fusion of many ethnic traditions, with Arawak Indian, Spanish, African, Indian, Middle Eastern, Chinese and British influences all detectable. A typical Jamaican breakfast is ackee , a tree-grown fruit which bears an uncanny resemblance to scrambled eggs when cooked.
Lunch is usually a light snack, maybe a heavily-seasoned meat or vegetable pie.
Main meals usually feature goat or pork, usually curried, served with rice and beans. Seafood dishes are also popular, often pickled and fried with peppers and onions. Jamaica's most popular dish is jerk , a term that describes the process of cooking meats smothered in tongue-searing marinade, and barbecued slowly in an outdoor pit over a fire of pimento wood, which gives the meat its distinctive flavour. Tea is a generic Jamaican term for any hot, brewed drink, and may be herbal, mixed with rum, milk, spices and even fish. Skyjuice is a favourite cool drink, made from shaved ice flavoured with syrup.