Ají (sauce) Ají (sauce) Ají is a spicy sauce that often contains tomatoes, cilantro (coriander), ají pepper, onions, and water. Recipes vary dramatically from person to person and from region to region, depending on preference. Ají has been prepared in Andean countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru since at least the time of the Incas, who called it "uchu". In Colombia and Ecuador, for example, food is traditionally mild, so ají can be added to almost any dish to add some flavour and spice. It is usually added to other foods such as chugchucaras, soup, chorizo, or empanadas. In Chile there
Jerk (cooking) the action of "jerking", which referred to poking meat with holes so that flavor could more easily be absorbed. The term "jerk spice" (also commonly known as Jamaican jerk spice) refers to a spice rub. The word "jerk" refers to the spice rub, wet marinade, and to the particular cooking technique. Jerk cooking has developed a following in the United States, Canadian and Western European cosmopolitan urban centres with Caribbean/West Indian communities. One story is that Jamaican jerk sauce developed as an adaptation by escaped enslaved Coromantee Africans in Jamaica. However, historians have unearthed evidence to show that all racial