This quick bread, known as a "bun," is spice-forward and forgiving, with strong flavors from a few simple ingredients.
Andre Fowles, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa's personal chef and author of a new Jamaican cookbook, remarked, “Bun is one of the island's iconic food traditions.”
The Easter bun, which is made with raisins and red cherries, is fruitier during Lent. “Giving and sharing bun during Easter honors the religious aspect of the season,” Mr. Fowles said.
Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, a family-owned fast-casual franchise with over 100 US locations, began producing and selling buns in 1949 as Hawthorne & Sons Bakery in St. Andrew Parish, Jamaica.
The company now manufactures 150,000 buns a year, selling 90,000 during Lent, what Steven Clark, vice president of marketing for the restaurant group, calls “an adrenalized injection of traffic.”
“For us, Easter is like Christmas,” Mr. Clarke said, adding that the factory bustles before Easter to satisfy demand.
Buns, like many dishes, have a murky origin in Jamaica's history. Many say it evolved from hot cross buns due to years of English colonial dominance