Hi Guys

Is allspice and pimento the same thing?

Also does anyone have any really authentic curry goat recipes. The type handed down generation to generation in a Jamaican family?

Hope you can help!

I don;t think they are the same thing. I am sure pimento is a type of red pepper, maybe even a chilli pepper, and allspice is....something else! Sorry I am not much help but I am sure someone will be able to come along soon to give better advice.

OK...after doing some reading, it looks like allspice is dried pimento. Ok I'll shut up now!

Pimento is also a red pepper. Different countries/languages different meanings etc.

Sure i've also heard paprika called pimento before also.

Looked it up and it's pimentón

Allspice =/= pimento

Thank you everyone, it was confusing me.

No, you were right first time. Allspice is a dried berry, definitely not a pepper. I always have them in the cupboard. Wiki says it can be referred to as pimenta, not to be confused with pimento, which is a small red pepper.

I can't help with the curry recipe unfortunately. I got a recipe from an African lady years ago which included scotch bonnet peppers and dried crayfish - it was the foulest smelling and tasting...thing. The recipe and the 'curry' went in the bin, never to be attempted again.

You see now I am confused again lol.

The curry powder I bought from the Carribean stand at the market has pimento listed as an ingredient but all the recipes to make your own curry powder use all spice berries.

I really wanted to recreate the taste from the bought curry powder but using freshly ground spices. I guess it is not to be!

Allspice is rather different to pimento... lol

In Trinidad we use it as well. Whenever I'm in London I can never find allspice so I just substitute it.

The substitution is ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves and ground black pepper. Usually people say equal parts of all, but I hate strong cinnamon and nutmeg flavouring so I go heavier on black pepper. Anywaaay, try the combination of those four and I guarantee you that it's the same flavour as myrtle pepper. (That's what we call allspice but I promise we're talking about the same thing)


Oh, and I have Trini family secret curried goat recipes if you'd like to try that. We say curried goat, they say goat curry - there's an ongoing rivalry about that.
Besides, I think our food tastes way better than the Jamaicans.

In Jamaica and the West Indies, "pimento" means allspice berries. In Spanish and Portuguese, "pimento" means a variety of (mild) chilly pepper.

The confusion is what is called a "false friend" in language teaching. Same word, but different meaning between languages.

So ladymoanalot, all you have to do is get yourself to a West Indian grocers if you live near a big city, or there are plenty of dead cheap online spice stores.


The pimento in your spice mix will definitely be allspice. You can tell anyway from the smell. It is an excellent idea to make your curry powder fresh so as long as you have some idea of the proportions, go for it.

Sweh. I would love a copy of you recipe!!!

Many thanks. i can not wait!!

I am having people around so I hope it turns out OK

Are you sure you're not mixing up Allspice and Mixed Spice?

Oh dear, I'll give you my recipe after you try the Jamaican one! I scared if you to feed our version to other people, they may not be able to handle it.


lol I'm sure. Why would you think I am mixing it up?

I recommended a mix of substitute flavours for when you cannot find allspice.

Because in this instance Allspice is Pimento, meaning the dried berry and not the chilli pepper.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/allspice



Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allspice




Different languages with different names for things and sometimes things get mixed up.
Farmhand's post explains it well.

Nah don't worry, I wasn't mixed up. I know what I mean. I think of Pimento as a fresh pepper, not the spice.

Even in one of your quotes it lists the taste to resemble the four flavours I recommended as a substitute.