Jamaican Callaloo

Attractions, activities & Accommodation.

Your Source, Bringing Jamaica to You.

The Jamaican callaloo is a dark green leaf vegetable that is native to South America. The Callaloo is part of the amaranth family which consists of about 60 varieties of this plant. There are about three varieties of callaloo in Jamaica. The Jamaican callaloo is very nutritious particularly potent in irion, vitamin C, flavonoids, calcium, vitamin A, flavonoids and other phytochemicals. This vegetable taste a bit like spinach and could be used as a substitute

The Jamaican callaloo started out as a back yard garden vegetable but over the years has cemented its place in the Jamaican cuisine both local and abroad. The poorer class of people in Jamaica was the first to make great use of this wonderful vegetables and then the Rastafarians came and propelled one of Jamaica’s favorite. They the Rastafarians like to cook this Jamaican callaloo into fresh coconut milk which lends its sweet aromatic taste forming a perfect synergy.

The Callaloo grows well on most soil in Jamaica. It needs adequate supply of water and proper drainage. The finest tasting Jamaican Callaloo is the organic type that normally grow around the backyard without too much human intervention. The Jamaican callaloo responds well to broken down materials from compost which impacted the flavor immensely.