Meaning
Fried whole fish topped with a tangy, spicy pickle of vinegar, onion, sliced carrot, pimento, and scotch bonnet — one of Jamaica's most loved fish dishes. A festive favourite, above all at Easter, escovitch fish is eaten hot or cold with bammy or festival, the sharp, peppery dressing soaked into the crisp-fried flesh. Its name and method come, by way of the Spanish, from the old technique of preserving fried fish in a sour, spiced marinade, and it is a fixture of the seaside and the holiday table.
Examples
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Good Friday wi always cook escovitch fish an bammy.
On Good Friday we always cook escovitch fish and bammy.
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Di vinegar an onion pon di escovitch fish sharp an sweet.
The vinegar and onion on the escovitch fish are sharp and delicious.
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She fry di fish crisp before she dress it escovitch.
She fried the fish crisp before dressing it escovitch-style.
Origin
From Spanish 'escabeche', a vinegar-pickling method brought to the Caribbean by Iberian settlers and adapted into a Jamaican classic with local peppers and pimento.
How it’s used
Both the dish and the pickling method ('dressed escovitch'). Especially associated with Easter.