Meaning
Salted or tinned mackerel — a cheap, filling protein at the heart of Jamaican working-class cooking. 'Mackerel rundown' (mackerel stewed in reduced coconut milk) and 'mackerel an banana' are classic breakfasts. Salt mackerel must be soaked to draw out the salt before cooking. A pantry staple long valued for stretching a meal.
Examples
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Mumma cook mackerel rundung wid green banana.
Mum cooked mackerel rundown with green banana.
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Soak di salt mackerel before yuh cook it.
Soak the salt mackerel before you cook it.
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Tin mackerel cheap an it fill yuh belly.
Tinned mackerel is cheap and it fills you up.
Origin
From English 'mackerel'; salted and tinned forms became a Jamaican dietary staple. See [[rundung]].
How it’s used
Salt or tinned mackerel; classic in 'rundown' and with green banana. Soak salt mackerel first. See [[rundung]], [[saltfish]].