Notting Hill Carnival 2018: Where to eat the best Caribbean food

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Barbecued, baked, grilled or dripping in gravy, London has a hankering for jerk chicken — and it tastes even better when eaten to the sound of steel pans and giant samba sound systems.

Carnival fever returns to Notting Hill this weekend and more than two million people are expected to turn out for a Caribbean feast of curried goat, fried plantain and spicy Jamaican patties washed down with Red Stripe.

To clarify: we’ll be hunting for the real stuff, not Jamie Oliver’s approximation. This week, the chef landed in hot water after being accused of cultural appropriation for creating a microwavable version of jerk rice.

Happily, London has a richness of authentic vendors preparing mountains of the stuff. The capital is expected to work its way through five tonnes of jerk chicken in W11 alone. Organisers say there’ll be more than 240 food stalls, and this year classic dishes have had a hot new take, such as a vegan alternative to jerk chicken: enter jerk jackfruit. You’ll find it on the stove at Renée’s Kitchen, a new trader at Carnival for 2018 — barbecued and served in a wrap with plantain, pomegranate, gem lettuce, mango and BBQ jerk sauce.

Meanwhile, Carnival favourite Mama’s Jerk Station, usually on the corner of Portobello Road and Oxford Gardens, will be dishing up its famous jerk chips, jerk-spiced saltfish cakes and signature biryani, called Biriyardi, served with rice and peas. The Mama’s team will also be south of the river, cooking up homemade Jamaican dishes at Pop Brixton’s Carnival celebrations all weekend.

Tuck in: Mama's Jerk chicken burger

White Men Can’t Jerk will be at the Duke of Edinburgh in Brixton, while the Prince of Peckham does a new Southern Fried Cauliflower Sub with homemade vegan Scotch bonnet mayo, lime and coriander slaw.

Over in Shoreditch, celebrity chef Levi Roots will be doing a Carnival-themed Caribbean takeover at Urban Food Fest’s “Rasta’raunt” on Saturday. Head down for free Reggae Reggae Sauce and 15 street food trucks serving up dishes from Levi’s Reggae Reggae slow-cooked, slow-smoked homemade jerk chicken, Carnival Queen sticky pulled pork and crispy fried plantains and No Meat No Cry vegan spiced vegetable balls with roasted peppers.

A message to you: Rudie's jerk wrap

Hipchips’ special Carnival-edition creamy Soho store will also be offering a new Jamaican Jerk dip, featuring Caribbean Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, ginger, garlic and thyme to pair with salted crisps.

The Sun Tavern in Bethnal Green will serve free jerk chicken wings from Hackney’s Caribbean Kitchen on Sunday and Rudie’s at Boxpark Shoreditch is doing spicy-sweet charcoal-grilled real jerk. And to learn how to do it yourself, head to Bernie Spain Gardens on the South Bank on Friday and Saturday for live cookery demos and street food with live music at Grace Food’s Caribbean Food Week Festival. It’s sizzling.

Notting Hill Carnival over the years - In pictures

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