As we settle into 2025, Jamaicans are crafting their food stories with The Best Dressed Chicken, moving beyond typical resolutions to embrace meaningful changes that honour tradition.

At MegaMart Kingston, families recently shared their visions for the new year — from exploring innovative recipes to preserving cherished Sunday dinners, each bringing their own flavour to dreams of healthier, happier meals ahead.

The Adventurous Cook

When we caught up with Leeha Smith, a high school teacher, she was fully zoned in on The Best Dressed Chicken Mixed Parts while checking recipes on her phone.

“Every month I carefully select my Best Dressed Chicken Mixed Parts for my signature dishes,” she shared. Having mastered both cooking and healthy eating, she dismisses new year’s food resolutions. Her focus is on expanding her impressive repertoire with more baked chicken creations.

“I’m constantly innovating in the kitchen, researching new techniques beyond traditional methods,” she explained. Her latest success is teriyaki chicken. “Being a barbecue enthusiast, I love how the teriyaki sauce brings that perfect sweetness, and I’ve refined the presentation to perfection.”

A Love Story Seasoned with Time

Lorna Marshall and Albert Gordon, a couple whose love story spans over 40 years, radiated warmth and devotion to each other as they navigated the aisles.

“I know what he likes to eat, and he knows what I like to eat. He doesn’t like a lot of onions and things like that, so when I am preparing his meals, I use less,” Lorna shared. She told
Thursday Food that she occasionally explores new recipes, but she has a strong preference for rotisserie chicken.

“I season up my Best Dressed Chicken overnight. I put on my special spices. Sometimes, if I have chicken leftovers, I dice it up with some vegetables, steam it together, and just have that as an all-in-one,” Lorna explained.

As for new year resolutions, the duo was sceptical of making any changes. “I will continue my routine in the new year. I jog practically every morning for an hour and I’ve been doing that for nearly 25 years non-stop. For food, maybe try and cut down on the fats, salts, and sugar,” Lorna volunteered. Albert chimed in, breaking the seeming seriousness of the conversation, announcing, “As for food, I’m going to eat as much as I can eat!”

“I’m going to deal with a piece of this Best Dressed Chicken when I get home. Mi nah plan fi get nutten out a mi diet more than continue fi tell lie pon di dog seh a dem thief out the chicken,” he joked as they both laughed.

Their secret to enduring love? “It’s respect and trust. He’ll do anything for me, and I’ll do anything for him,” Lorna said. Albert’s playful response: “Because we nuh deh ‘round each other a daytime.”

The Family-First Cook

Nadesha Perier, a primary school teacher, finds joy in being immersed in a daily ritual of cooking — a routine that she’s excited to carry into the new year. She relishes the opportunity to prepare breakfast for her family and ensure that her husband comes home to a delicious meal after work. “I cook two times per day, basically every day.”

She has been wondering how to explore cooking in a new way that will also excite her son Jaiden. “Because The Best Dressed Chicken is hormone-free, it’s even more encouraging to prepare it at home. For 2025, I would like to do more stir-fried vegetables using the chicken breast or making some delicious sweet and sour chicken, which my son enjoys, or chicken drumsticks for his lunch (he likes it fried).”

She has already mapped out strategies for success: “Think about the future. You know that once you’re healthy, you might live a little bit longer. Just think about the money that you will be saving when you cook healthy meals at home. For every $1,000 that you spend, you probably can save that towards something else.”

Banking on Better Health

Andrea Scott Gentles, a senior manager at Scotiabank, is passionate about cooking and is ready for change in 2025. “I think I’ve explored most of the Jamaican way of cooking chicken. For the coming year I would love to cook more Asian styles and recipes with bolder flavours to give it a flair.

Her resolution? “To eat healthier and lose weight. I need to eliminate junk foods as much as I can for 2025, but having two teenagers in the house [makes it] difficult.” Her strategy includes enlisting help: “My husband is a health freak, so I plan to have him remind me to cut back on junk food. He has been trying, but I will ask him to put more emphasis on it.”

“I have been using The Best Dressed Chicken almost every day; it’s always in my house; I get most of my protein from the chicken. If The Best Dressed Chicken could be my chef for a day I would do something healthy and delicious. You can send him or her to my house,” Andrea said. “You want my address?” she offered with a laugh.

A Father-Daughter Health Pact

For Clive Davis, a safety consultant, the new year means time to prioritise his health — advice he has heard repeatedly over the years and is now fully acknowledging. “My new year’s resolution is to eat a bit healthier as I get older. Before, we kinda just eat anything, anytime, anyhow. We’ve not been cautious; that’s the bottom line.”

His mission for 2025? Shift things up. “When you’ve been told over and over again about the benefits of eating healthy, I think I’m going to be forced to go there, especially with people like my daughter Racine here [bringing her closer into a warm embrace], she’s into the healthy lifestyle, so I’m gonna be forced to go there.”

Racine has her own resolutions to continue to eat healthier and help her dad keep his promise to himself. “One thing I can think of is to cut down on snacking,” she said. “None of us has a problem with eating vegetables, but I don’t know that we do enough with them. It’s almost on the side. I don’t think we deliberately incorporate them into our meal preparation, and that’s something we can change.”

Preserving Family Traditions

Paula Brown is a master of classic Jamaican dishes, whipping up delicious Saturday soups and Sunday dinners that her family loves, adores, and of course, devours within record time. And her five-year-old daughter Jahayla is already a budding foodie with a discerning palate. “I like fried chicken,” Jahayla declares.

Throughout her shopping experience, Paula was kept busy by Jahayla who, amid the brightest smiles, stole the attention of her mum and our team alike. Paula’s regular cooking routine includes lots of vegetables and her family sticks to traditional Jamaican meals that have been a staple for their family.

“I will continue on the same path and maybe throughout the year implement different things. I always incorporate my veggies. On Sunday we’ll cook chicken, then on Saturday, we’ll have chicken or beef soup. During the week we have vegetables on Wednesday and sometimes Thursday. On Fridays, it’s more flexible.”

Looking Forward to 2025

These stories from Kingston’s kitchens reveal that while some families embrace change and others maintain cherished traditions, all share a commitment to nourishing their loved ones with quality meals. As these families step into 2025, they remind us that good food isn’t just about nutrition — it’s about love, tradition, and the joy of sharing meals with those who matter most.