Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards judge for the parish of Manchester, attorney-at-law and barrister Camille Shields, shares three more culinary gems.

Tim’s Jerk (885-1488), located in Williamsfield at the old roundabout, is a real jerk stop. Operated by Tim and his wife Miss Milly for many years, it is one of the parish of Manchester’s best-kept secrets which I myself only discovered recently, from a Kingston friend, but the best jerk pork anywhere!

You have to turn off from the bypass and drive through the town of Williamsfield to get there. Tim’s is open Wednesdays to Saturdays from midday till the food is done, which sometimes can be very early in the afternoon, so the best time is 1:00 pm. I have been there a couple of times and the food finished in the early afternoon.

Please be sure not to ask Tim what he seasons his meat with because it is a highly guarded secret but when I say the pork nice, it’s nice!

Now I’ve had nice pork from Portland to Westmoreland (and can’t leave out Clarendon Park either) but Tim’s pork is like no other. I only tried the jerk chicken recently and that was excellent too; his jerk has a slight sweetness to the smokiness that reminds me of an American barbecue and maybe that’s why I like it so much.

Tim’s also gets fresh bread delivered every day from a local bakery and I have been there when the truck arrives with the warm bread, and that just tops it off to almost perfection with the homemade pepper sauce.

As I said, it is a jerk stop, no different in decor from others — stools around the outside of the building, offering “ice cold” beers and a little “whites” — but Tim and Miss Milly behind the counter preparing food and talking to the patrons makes the atmosphere relaxing. The building is nestled under the trees and there is cool breeze always coming up the hill. It must be intentional that all jerk stops are decorated that way so you just nyam and scram, but I must say that it’s so much better when you eat there; and the leftovers are really good stewed down the next day.

Price-wise Tim’s is on par with most of the others I frequent: one pound of jerk pork is now $1,400, can’t get better than that.

TIM’S JERK

Williamsfield, Manchester

885-1488