Read What Our Customers Are Saying About Us!
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Reprinted with permission of the Journal Opinion, Bradford, VT
Genuine Jamaican
by Elena Chevalier
"It’s so hot, but it’s so tasty I can’t control myself!" That’s what Kevin Shelton, owner of Everything But the Cook in Woodsville, has to say about Limbo Inferno Jerk Sauce.
Derrick Samuels introduced Limbo Inferno with his new line of Genuine Jamaican products at the 2004 St. Johnsbury Farmers’ Market. At the end of the season, customers were saying, "Where can we get this stuff after the market closes?"
"They were buying it by the case so they’d have it for the winter," Samuels told the Journal Opinion in a recent interview. That was the confirmation he needed to begin selling his products through several local stores.
"I’m happy to be hosting his products," Shelton said. "We’re just fortunate to have someone local with this" line of products.
Samuels, 53, is a native of Jamaica who now lives in Barnet with his wife Shellie and their children. He met his wife in 1983 when he worked as a waiter on a Carnival cruise ship. They were married in Panama in December,1984. Shellie Samuels’ mother owns Warner’s Gallery in Wells River, so it was only natural that he would get a job as a waiter there.
For the past 18 years, Samuels has been serving people from the surrounding communities as well as tourists from far away. Known as "the singing waiter of Warner’s Gallery," he is a well known figure. "Anywhere I go within a 150 mile radius someone knows me," he said happily.
This summer at the farmers’ markets in St. Johnsbury and Littleton, Samuels will again be selling his Jamaican products, including Mango Salsa and "Pic-a-peppa" pickles, which is a popular item. Jamaican Beef Patties, which are like a turnover with seasoned ground beef, sell out quickly. Samuels said his wife does the baking, and he does the flavoring.
Although Limbo Inferno Jerk Sauce is the mainstay of his business, not everything he sells is hot. For example, the Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce has just a touch of heat and all of the popular Jamaican flavor. He also sells dry rubs and marinades. Samuels puts a little jerk sauce in just about everything he sells. "Jerk sauce gives (every)thing a totally new flavor."
The word, "jerk," comes from a Spanish word which means "dried meat." We know it in English as "jerky." The word is used in several ways including the process of seasoning and grilling the meat, and the actual wet or dry seasoning mix itself. There are three central ingredients in jerk—scotch bonnet chile pepper, allspice and thyme.
You can easily find recipes for jerk sauce, but Samuels’ recipe is a closely guarded secret. His recipe came from a "jerk shack" that has been family owned and operated in Jamaica for over 100 years. When he was a boy, Samuels’ family would buy jerk at that shack every Sunday.
"There are a couple of spices I don’t tell," Samuels said, referring to his recipe. But even if someone were to copy it, their’s would not taste the same. For example, one ingredient is cinnamon, but the wild cinnamon he gets from Jamaica is not the same as what’s available here. He also imports fresh allspice berries several times a year to maintain a genuine flavor.
"Half the ingredients I use to make jerk sauce I get from Jamaica," he said. Produce grown in the volcanic soil of the Blue Mountain ridges in Jamaica creates a unique taste that can’t be copied here. His sister personally ships ingredients because Samuels insists that his products be as authentic as possible.
As a result, "the flavor is unmatched," he said.
His efforts have paid off because his small family business has done well. "I’m very excited" because the response from the general public has been "awesome," he said.
Samuels’s commitment to authentic Jamaican flavor helps explain the label he chose for his products. "Genuine Jamaican—Limbo Line." He designed and drew the label which features swaying palm trees and a limbo dancer.
Limbo Line is "a catch phrase I like because I miss limbo," he said. During his nine years working on cruise ships, he moonlighted in the lounges at night doing entertainment. Because he was "skinny and short," he could come "maybe a foot from the ground" in the limbo. After a knee injury and surgery, he could no longer do it, "but I miss it."
When Samuels talks about his products, he bubbles over with enthusiasm. But Jerk Sauce isn’t the only thing that he’s excited about; he’s enthusiastic in his gratitude for the help he has received from others.
"I’d like to thank David Dickinson who lives in Websterville, VT. He was very influential in this business getting started," Samuels said. "Thanks for believing in me, David."
Gratitude is important to him. "It’s the way I am," he said, then he gave credit to someone else. "A lot of things I now cherish I learned from my mom. She was quite a lady."
Samuels also points to Jon Rutstein, owner of Bread and Chocolate, Inc., as being extremely helpful in this business venture. Samuels uses Rutstein’s industrial kitchen to cook and bottle most of his products.
You can find Genuine Jamaican products in places like Riverview Market, Everything But the Cook, the Round Barn, Aldrich’s, Farm-way, Cabot Creamery and other local stores. His website is www.GenuineJamaican.com.
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Genuine Jamaican
609 Barnet Center Road
Barnet, VT 05821
802.633.2676
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Copyright 2004
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