Harajuku goes Jamaican

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Yvonne Goldson left her post at an international law firm for the kitchen of her new JamRock Café -- Tokyo's newest outpost for authentic Jamaican cuisine located in the heart of Harajuku.

Goldson, the author of The Patois Handbook: Let's Speak Jamaican! -- a Jamaican-Japanese dictionary and best-seller in its tenth edition since first being published in 1998-- spoke about her latest venture in an interview with the Time Out Tokyo Newsletter, publised in late February.

Yvonne, a pioneer member of the Association of Jamaicans in Japan, envisions JamRock Café as the home-away-from-home where Tokyoites and Jamaicans can get together to eat authentic Jamaican food without having to catch a flight out of Narita Airport.

The Trelawny native has lived in Japan for the last 12 years, after arriving to find a publisher for her book. She ultimately stayed to oversee the editing. Her handbook has been successful in bridging the gap of making patois more accessible to Japanese interested in Jamaican culture, especially the ubiquitous topic: food. The dictionary covers Jamaican food, fruits, beverages and desserts that are on the menu at JamRock Café.

Goldson's menu choices focus on home-style Jamaican dishes.

"People have this idea that all we eat in Jamaica is jerk chicken, but we don't really make that at home -- that's more of a street food." A look at the menu shows a cross section of Jamaican home-style favourites, including ackee and saltfish ready to be enjoyed.

Ordering a meal in patois at JamRock Café is one of the charms of going there, especially speaking with Kanto, the Japanese server who has a very convincing Jamaican accent.

Goldson was inspired to start her business by her former boss after he sampled her food. She met her head chef, a Rastafarian called Twitch, at the popular Jamaican One Love Reggae Festival in Yoyogi Park, and the duo collaborate on JamRock's menu and catering.

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Harajuku goes Jamaican