It's Spring Break! Travel to Jamaica with this Jamaican-styled Jerk Pork!

I'm making Jerk Pork for dinner tonight (recipe follows). This is a spicy dish, so I plan to also serve lemonade from the next-door lemonade stand vendors to cool off the heat!

It's Spring Break, folks, and I can't resist plugging the local businesses. Entrepreneurs are setting up lemonade stands across town, so don't forget to support your neighborhood lemonade-stand vendors!

Back to the pork! According to Virginia Burke's cookbook "Eat Caribbean," in Jamaica everyone has a "secret ingredient" for cooking jerk, which may include ketchup, soy, rum or mustard. Burke says the most essential ingredients are allspice berries, hot pepper, scotch bonnet and birdpepper, spring onion, ginger, cinnamon, thyme and black pepper.

I'm a bit short on time so I purchased a Jamaican Jerk seasoning blend from the Spice Merchants in Kerrytown. Its ingredient list includes much of the above seasonings and sure saves time.

I could build a jerk pit in my back yard and order pimento wood on-line for the fire. That would truly be a authentic way to cook jerk. Alas, time and convenience insist I use my gas grill.

The following recipe was inspired by a travel and culture Web site that provided me the backbone for a great recipe marinade and offers a video for making jerk pork.

Yield: 6-8 servings
Marinate Time: 12-24 hours
Grill Time: Approx. 20 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
Juice of one lime
1 cup orange juice
1 cup white vinegar
4 tablespoons Jamaican Jerk seasoning, divided
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped scotch bonnet, serrano or jalapeno peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 cups finely chopped onions
4-5 pounds of boneless pork loin, cut into 2-inch by 1/4-inch pieces

Directions

1. Make a marinade by whisking together olive oil, soy sauce, lime and orange juices, vinegar, 2 tablespoons Jerk seasoning, brown sugar, peppers, garlic and onions.
2. Marinate pork pieces in marinade 12-24 hours, turning once.
3. Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium heat. Oil grill grates. Remove pork from marinade and sprinkle remaining seasoning over pork pieces. Grill pork until cooked through, about 7-10 minutes on each side.