Firstly, let me apologise for the delay in doing this post.  The weekend of Wild Jerk  was one of those Murphy’s Law weekends.  I mean everything that could go wrong did and in such a major way.

The batch of dough that I had made for the patties was not consistent so I had to dispose of over three-quarters of it.  I made over the dough and then of course my plan to prepare the patties for baking the day before was delayed by several hours.  So – up at 4:00 am and proceeding to get the patties done – my phone which I had just purchased – fell out of my hands and the screen was permanently damaged.  Needless to say I could not see the numbers I was dialing and any text message that was being sent to me.  To make matters worse – over 2 dozen extra patties that I had made got burned because in my tired state I did not gauge the oven properly.

Nonetheless we got to our venue in one piece….. and it was sheer frenzy from then on.    Our last record for Wild Jerk was finishing at 2:38pm (2 hours and 38 minutes)  This time we shaved off half hour and was finished by 2:08 pm.

My apologies to the JTI staff for the late delivery of your lunch… yes Wild Jerkers we now deliver.  We are also accepting Mobile Money to those Coolbiz affiliates and for the time being Susie will accept credit and debit cards on our behalf.  So there – you have no reason not to buy Wild Jerk.

Thank you to Volier Johnson for the big up of the pork patties on FAME’s Full House Fridays – he came by and declared that he was not leaving until he got one (mind you by this time they had been all ordered out – but we managed to finangle two for him )

My friend Clyde Paul who visited Wild Jerk after three years of invites finally believed me when I told him that as much as we try to be out there late – we usually finish early and it is really “12:00 noon till de pork done”.

In all it turned out not to be such a bad day after all despite its mishaps.  After all nothing is ever perfect.   Looking forward to the next Wild Jerk so look out for our menu on Facebook – we have a new crab recipe coming up.

Pork Patties (picture provided by Stephen McFarlane)

Ok Wild Jerkers! Wild Jerk was held in its usual location at Susie’s Bakery in Southdale Plaza yesterday.  I decided to heed the call to by the Facebook lobby group – Jamaica Pork Patty Association  (JAPPA) and provide pork patties on an order basis.  Let me tell you – I have never seen people behave like that over patties before?  Even though I specifically stated that I would stop taking orders by Wednesday, I knew that there were people who would turn up even though they did not order.  I carried an extra 3 dozen patties with me.  Even the ones that crumbled were purchased.  One regular Wild Jerk customer who did not know about the patties immediately purchased half a dozen stating that he planned to “curry favor with some people” and that he was “sorry for the people in his office who did not give him any birthday cake”.

We had another case of an JAPPA member and Wild Jerk’s number one fan bantering and negotiating about the patties.  Well…negotiation is not really the right word.  Number One Fan truthfully asked me to save two patties for him but in the frenzy I had completely forgotten.  If ever there was a man close to tears.  He then saw the JAPPA official with his dozen patties and offered to purchase one.  Well he was flatly refused and there the bantering started. At one point he tried to appeal to his better nature and stated that the situation were reversed then he would share his patties with the JAPPA official.  When he was told that the JAPPA official’s family was expecting the patties, Number One Fan’s response was “wha happen – you have 11 brother and sister?”  Well Number One Fan was left wanting and the JAPPA official left with his dozen intact and safely tucked under his arm.  Number One Fan had to be consoled with a half pound of pork and some cartwheel fried dumplings.

Was I wise to market a product directly to a Facebook Group?  Time will tell.  The initial report for the people who got their patties was good.  Most of whom were planning to freeze theirs and pinch them through the month reported that they are COMPLETELY GONE!  Will they spread the word to their members?  I can only hope so.  That would be why someone would market to a Facebook niche – feedback.  One expects page posts and discussion.  Was the patty too spicy, not spicy enough, just right?  Was the crust to their liking or was there room for improvement?  For those who managed to freeze theirs was the quality the same after defrosting and toasting (I recommend a toaster oven versus a microwave – but that is just my prejudice).  As I said time will tell if I will have the support to continue this project.

Wild Jerk was finished by 3:12 pm.  As we say … from 12:00 noon till de pork done..

PS

FYI – the pork patties were made with regular pork not Wild Jerk

So effective January 2010, Wild Jerk will be selling our primary product for J$500 per pound (down from J$700/pound) (half pound J$300). In addition when we have our Special Pots – none will be priced above $500. We will still give you your three Cartwheel Fried Dumplings with each pound so you dumpling lovers can stop fretting.

This December will make two and a half years since we started Wild Jerk. While we had a lot of plans that should have taken place – for example – introduction of our appetizer line, our catering service etc., we were stymied by the economic crunch, the increase in gun crimes in our district, the drought which caused the pigs to take cover in the deep bush – where unfortunately – some criminals were hiding. Needless to say – to be true to our mantra of safety first – we had to postpone the event until it was safe to hunt in those areas. We also had to deal with the changing climate which cause us rough weather at sea at a time when seas are normally calm. What does the sea have to do with hunting wild hogs you might ask…. Well when they go to deep bush we can access those areas by sea reducing our chances of meeting up with any undesirable elements.

This has by far been our most challenging year. By no means do we plan to give up. All our plans which got stymied this year will be put in place for next year.

I have teamed up with fellow certified chef – Elizabeth Sutherland – and we will collaborate with each other to offer personal chef services. Her forte – salads, cakes, breads etc. My forte – meats (ironic for a vegetarian). Look out for us on the Maggi Menu Trail this December on CVM-TV. We were the first to come up with a 3-course meal for the show. I like Lizbeth’s energy and we work well together. I look forward to doing more with her. I will be posting her brochure online soon.

Some of our plans for 2010:
a) The introduction of our appetizer line, (consider Wild Jerk for parties and study groups). These will not only be pork dishes, but vegetarian and other meats.

b) The bottling of our signature sauces – Wild Jerk Lava and Tomatis

c) The acquisition of our Mobile oven so that we can participate in more events

d) The introduction of our Sunday Dinner Special and picnic baskets

These are ambitious plans in light of the economic times so I understand that some plans might come through later than expected. The point is that economic hardship or not we at Wild Jerk have to do everything to keep our business competitive, interesting and edgy.

I have been asked – why not use regular pork when you cannot get wild pigs? My response will remain the same – I cannot do that because it will make me like every other jerk pork vendor and we are all about being different. After it is because we are different why our friends keep coming back.

We have done our first calendar. Each Wild Jerk customer need to make sure that they collect one.

We look forward to seeing you on December 18th, and wish for you and yours – A merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. May God grant you all strength and fortitude to weather any storms that come your way.

Poor dog – he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Let’s just say that when we approached land he was more eager than any of us to get off. We made camp at Manatee Bay – where we met the entire sand fly population of South St Catherine. I retired to the hut with mosquito destroyer in hand but because the hut (which is more like a teepee) was made with some black plastic, I was cooking even though I was sand fly free.

Well I was deserted by my faithful dog for the sea side, but I figured that since his hair was thick he would have no problem. Good fella that he was – he came to check on me periodically.

Roh and Rasta Man went to set traps while I slept. When they came back it was to a lunch of Lemonade, dumplings and saltfish. We ate with much gusto. Some to think of it – so did Shaggy.

We pretty much rested through the day and when the mosquito destroyer was finished in desperation we started to rub Tiger Balm on our skin to ease the itching. Lo and behold we discovered that when we rubbed the ointment on our skin we did not have any mosquito or sand fly problems for about one hour.

Late in the night – Rohan went diving. Rasta Man and I huddled close to the fire (to further discourage sand flies) and started telling campfire stories. I had really missed the camping on the open air and was thrilled to be back at sea again. Roh came back about two hours later with an excellent catch, Which we were able to sell to make back our gas money. As usual I did not have any luck with my fishing line – as I once again caught a big bundle of ….. you guessed it…SEAWEED!

Our original plan was to go to Pelican Key but due to the storm at sea – we decided that safety first would be our mantra.

Until the next trip…and yes… we still extend an invitation to those who would like to go camping.

The little shops along the way will have to have ample supplies of cold beer, sodas, bag juice because the consumption of a lot of pepper will increase the need for the numbing effect of sweet cold drinks.

Secret recipes will abound as the crab pots come out, the smell of crab cooking will permeate the air. Not the least of which will be our Coconut Curried Crab complete with Cartwheel Fried Dumpling. On one record night we sold 250 Cartwheel Fried Dumplings because no one wanted to part with their coconut curry gravy after they had consumed the crab. It is just one of those more-ish things.

So Wild Jerk waits patiently with the community of Dunbeholden and the rest of Portmore for the rains to actually fall on the old Ricelands….well not so patiently. Rohan plans to take his spear gun and shoot them out of their holes.

For those of you who enjoyed the Wild Beef last year – we have some more. Yes just like how you have Wild Hog bush – you also have Wild Cow bush. I will let you all know the menu prices in the regular email. One Love

WILD JERK AT SUSIES