Food & Eateries: Jamaican Eats magazine shares a leaf from Norma's cookbook

The great Norma Shirley.

Internationally, she was known as the Julia Childe of the Caribbean. Throughout the Caribbean, she was known as the Grand Dame of Caribbean food.

But to all of us who have had the pleasure of dining at Norma’s on the Terrace, she was simply Norma Shirley – the woman who could turn the simplest Jamaican dish into a truly ambrosial experience.

“Norma has been a force in terms of taking Jamaican and Caribbean food to another level," said Grace Cameron, founder of Jamaican Eats, an international Jamaican and Caribbean food magazine. "She was a master at taking the traditional stuff and putting a spin on it, and taking it to a gourmet level. She’s well known and well respected for that.”

Grace Cameron, founder of Jamaican Eats magazine.

The culinary goddess, who has been featured in publications such as Bon Appétit, The New Yorker, and British and American Vogue, and whose restaurant boasted being named by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the 60 best new restaurants in the world in May 2000, was given a very special place in the latest issue of Jamaican Eats. A space was dedicated to noting her numerous achievements and successes.

Cameron continued: “It’s significant, her role in the Jamaican and Caribbean culinary scene, so with her passing we found it necessary to make note of her and document it in our magazine.”

The quarterly publication, which can be read like a magazine and used like a cookbook, was also generous enough to share a leaf from Shirley's cookbook, courtesy of her friend Rosemary Parkinson. Before the magazine hits newsstands, Cameron has decided to give Kingstonian Lifestyle an exclusive sneak peak at Shirley’s Holiday Roast Pork recipe, just in the nick of time for Christmas Day.

And where Christmas dinner is concerned, Cameron doesn't leave us there. She's included two traditional Christmas recipes in Jamaican Eats for us to enjoy with our families at the dinnertable.

(Find two more holiday recipes featured in the December-March issue of Jamaican Eats by clicking Read More)


The magazine also features two other recipes that you'll find useful for Christmas dinners. They are the Creamy, Smooth Egg Nog (including a low-calorie version of the recipe) and the Crunchy Rum Balls.

(Click the recipes to enlarge them)