Meaning
Canned mackerel — cheap, filling tinned fish that is a mainstay of the Jamaican store cupboard, especially in hard times. Cooked down with onion, tomato, and scotch bonnet into a 'mackerel run-down', or simply eaten with rice, bread, or boiled banana, tin mackerel has fed families for generations as an affordable source of protein. A tin of mackerel is one of the first things bought when money is short.
Examples
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Cook a tin mackerel wid rice fi dinner.
Cook a tin of mackerel with rice for dinner.
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Tin mackerel cheap an it fill yuh.
Tinned mackerel is cheap and it fills you.
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Run down di tin mackerel inna coconut.
Cook the tinned mackerel down in coconut milk.
Origin
From 'tin' (can) + 'mackerel'; canned mackerel, a store-cupboard staple. See [[mackerel-rundown]], [[saltfish]].
How it’s used
Canned mackerel; a cheap protein staple, often cooked run-down. See [[mackerel-rundown]], [[bully-beef]].