Goathead spiked with Mrs Allen's special touch.

Western Bureau

Culinary infusions of various cultures including Spanish, French, Chinese, African and Indian, are exhibited each year at the largest cultural celebration the island witnesses: Westmoreland's annual curry festival. This year's festival will take place at The Manning's School on April 26.

Melody Allen, a nine-year vendor at the festival, has been serving up traditional Jamaican dishes that consist of many local seasonings like ginger and garlic and, of course, curry. Allen is known at the festival for her curry goathead and goat belly, but also serves curry crab and shrimp on her menu.

"I've been a part of the curry festival for eight years and it's always exciting," she said. "The best part is being able to serve people."

Curry goat belly seasoned with local spices. - contributed

Allen said all of her food pro-ducts go quickly but the curry goat disappears the fastest. She boasts of the best curry goathead and goat belly available at the festival and shared her recipe:

Melody's Curry Goat Head and Belly

2lbs goat head

2lbs goat belly

2tbs curry powder

¹/²tsp masala

¹/²tsp jeera

2 stalks eskellion

1 small onion

4 garlic cloves

1tbsp meat seasoning

1tsp salt

1. Burn 2 cloves garlic and 1 stalk eskellion in oil with ¹/² teaspoon curry.2. Mix in all other seasoning ingredients.

3. Add meat and let cook on a slow flame for about 20 minutes.

Melody says thoroughly cleaning the goat meat is very important and can sometimes take up to two hours to clean properly. Her method is cleaning the goat meat with warm water to remove excess fat, and then soaking it in vinegar.

Turmeric: the plant originated in India and is used to give dishes a yellow colour.