1 good quality chicken, butterflied (butterfly by making a cut down the back bone and pressing flat)

Jerk marinade:

1 medium onion, chopped

2 spring onions

12 whole allspice (pimento)

2 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp fresh thyme

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 small scotch bonnet peppers (or other hot peppers/chillies)

Juice from 2 limes

2 tbsp cooking oil

Jerk sauce:

Left-over marinade (above)

½ c tomato sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

Water to thin sauce

METHOD

1. Make the jerk marinade by putting all marinade ingredients in a blender or mortar and pestle and blending until smooth.

2. Slash chicken thighs and legs to help with cooking and then smother with ¾ of marinade (1/4 will be used for sauce, see below) and leave for as long as you can.

3. Build your own Jamaican pit oven to smoke chicken: Take a roasting dish and in one corner build a small pile of twigs on a square of foil -  I use small branches and leaves of bay tree, rosemary and sage stalks. Balance a wire rack over the top and place butterflied, marinated chicken on this. Cover and seal tightly with 2 layers of foil, remembering what corner your twig pile is.

4. Place the corner (with the twigs) of the tray on the stove top over an element/burner on medium heat. Be patient and leave until you can hear the crackling of your smouldering branches. Once this has died down (5-10 minutes) put whole tray into a hot (200 C) oven and leave to cook for a further 30 minutes. Remove the foil carefully (to prevent a steam burn!) and continue cooking until the chicken is well browned and cooked through – another 15-20 minutes.

5. Jerk sauce: put remaining marinade in a saucepan with tomato and soy sauce, bring to the boil for 5-7 minutes, adding a splash of water if it gets too thick.

6. To serve:  Chop cooked chicken roughly and serve with jerk sauce,  rice and ‘peas’ (kidney beans).