Festival

A festival is a sweetened, deep-fried Jamaican dough made from cornmeal and flour. It is a common partner to Jamaican fish and grilled meat dishes, where its sweetness sets off the sharp vinegar of escoveitch fish and the heat of jerk.

What it really is

Cornmeal and flour are mixed with sugar and baking powder, then bound with water, and sometimes milk, into a soft dough. Pieces are shaped by hand into long, slightly tapered rolls and dropped into hot oil until the outside turns deep golden brown and the inside cooks through. The crust is crisp and the crumb is close and slightly sweet. Recipes differ in how much sugar they use, how much fat goes into the dough and whether egg is added, so one festival can be firmer or softer than another.

How it's served

• Hot or warm from the oil, broken or cut and eaten by hand.
• Beside escoveitch fish, which is fried and then pickled in a vinegar sauce with onion and peppers.
• Alongside jerk chicken or pork, where its sweetness cools the heat of the spice.
• As a side rather than a main on its own.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the dough by its ingredients: cornmeal and wheat flour, sweetened with sugar.
• Flag wheat. Ask the kitchen whether milk or egg goes into the dough, and mark either as an allergen if it does.
• Name the frying oil, since guests with dietary needs often ask how it is cooked.
• State whether it is sold alone, as a side, or with escoveitch fish or jerk, and price those as separate items.